My Dad Is A Serial Killer
by Helene Fyne
Summary: Sylar's baby girl is growing up, and she's more than anyone expected. Told from Danielle's perspective, this is the third volume in the Interesting Hobby series. Complete and will be posted quickly. Original Characters.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello everyone, We present Volume three of the Interesting Hobby series. Included, is April 2536 through October of the same year. Enjoy, and please remember to comment. We love to hear what you have to say. It gives us a reason to keep writing. **

**--Mel and Chuck**

**_VOLUME THREE_**

_APRIL 2536_

I pull away and beam up at him. "Wow," Kale murmurs. My smile twists into a smirk. I love that I've robbed him of any words other than 'wow'.

I lick my lips. I wonder if I could get another one…

"Let's not push things with your dad," he says with a grin. "He's going to overwork me as it is."

"Oh, no. I didn't mean to add to your work. I'm sorry." Way to go, Dani. Now Daddy's going to be pissed and you just told Kale that you're sorry for kissing him. Smooth.

"You're not sorry," he says, "and neither am I." He takes my hand in his and I giggle. Then I pull away as I remember exactly why I shouldn't be holding Kale's hand.

"Where's Daddy?"

Kale glances up to my mother's painting room. "Your parents are upstairs. They'll be a while."

"Eww." Thinking of that makes me think of the box of condoms Mom gave me, and that makes me nervous. Suddenly uncomfortable, I brush past Kale to sit on the couch. He takes it in stride and goes to wash his glass and put it away.

I smooth my dress over my knees and call out to him, "Kale?" He pokes his head into the room.

"What can I do for you?" he asks genially. He leans against the wall with easy grace and I catch my breath. He's gorgeous.

"Daddy's been training you for a long time, and he's, y'know…"

"Basically all-powerful?" he supplies.

"Yeah. I was just wondering…what all can you do?"

I frown as he laughs at me. "Dani, I don't think I could sit here and list everything I've learned. A lot of the time I don't even remember everything I've got."

"Then how come I don't see you using them? I mean, I watched you practicing with the electricity, but I haven't seen hardly anything." He must be exaggerating about the number of powers he has.

He looks away and I can sense his discomfort. "Dani, a lot of my abilities are kind of unsafe. It's better if I don't use them here at home. It could end up being dangerous to you or your mom, and I don't want that."

I purse my lips. "You mean that my dad told you not to." I love my father, but sometimes I think he's too hard on Kale.

I look to see Kale blushing. "I didn't say that," he mutters. I grin at his sudden sullen attitude.

"But he did, didn't he?" I goad.

"Shut up, Dani. You're not as cute as you think you are."

"But I am. And hey," I grab his wrist as he tries to get up and leave, "I wouldn't like you as much, if you and Daddy didn't get along. I'm only teasing you."

He sits down, his annoyance under control. I swear, everyone in this house has such a hair-trigger temper. It's a wonder we all manage to live together.

"Can I ask another question?"

"Go for it," he says, leaning back with his hands behind his head. I pull my legs under me on the other end of the sofa and angle my body towards him.

"How do you keep from using your powers? Like, if I had some of the powers Daddy has, I don't know if I could control myself," I tell him honestly. For example, mind-reading. I would love to know what Kale's thinking as he looks at me…

"I manage," he says shortly. "It's important that I have self-discipline."

"But why do you have to do that and Daddy—"

"Dani," he interrupts, "just let it go. This is your dad's house and he can do whatever he wants. I'm only here because he brought me in, and I respect that. And besides…" He moves over to be closer to me. "We can talk about other things besides powers and fathers..."

My eyes widen as he kisses me again, and I forget everything except the way his mouth moves against mine.

***

_MAY 2536_

I'm not sure what Daddy thinks he's doing, but it's making me mad. I haven't had a moment alone with Kale since… well since he kissed me on the couch, and it's getting really frustrating. The rational me knows that Daddy understands, that he's keeping us apart on purpose, whether out of some misguided feeling of fatherly duty or an actual reason. Either way, I wish he'd stop. I find myself thinking venom at him in the middle of dinner, and though I know he hears me, he doesn't respond. It's like he thinks he knows better than me how to run my own life or something.

"Mama?"

She's washing dishes, her hair is up in a pony tail and she's got suds on her elbows. "Yeah, Baby?" She looks up to where I stand, bare arms crossed over the front of my yellow checked sun dress. The color looks good with my hair, and the bright blue ribbon around my waist brings out my eyes.

"Can I talk to you about something personal?" I ask.

Mama puts down the dishes and grabs a towel, drying her hands. "Of course," she says. I walk on bare feet across the hard wood floor to where she stands. She's so short. I never realized as a child how young she looks, but now that I'm almost sixteen and 5'7, a full four inches taller than my mother, it's beginning to sink in. I wonder briefly if I'll stop growing soon too before I speak.

"Can you do something about Daddy, please?" I don't mince words. In my house its better to just say what you're thinking.

Mama arches an eyebrow. "What about him?" she asks.

"He's being completely unreasonable. He won't let Kale and I alone for a second, which is stupid considering how many years we've been allowed to do whatever we want," I make my case just as I practiced.

Mama laughs. I am not amused.

"Oh Dani, for all those years the two of you weren't making out in our living room."

"We were not—"

She cuts me off. "And for all those years you weren't a hormonal teenager who your father had to worry about getting pregnant,"

"I'm not going to—we're not even—what have you been telling him?" My voice has gone all high pitched and accusatory. I mean, I know Daddy can read minds and all, but he's always been really good about not using that to solve problems or draw conclusions in regards to me. But if Mama has talked to him about our conversation… about the box she gave me that's currently stowed in the top drawer of my dresser… How embarrassing.

"Nothing," she assures me, folding her arms and managing to look down at me despite her height. I think it's a mom thing. "But I can't help it is he's decided to intervene. Besides, he's not actively keeping the two of you apart so much as intensifying Kale's training, which for all we know is completely necessary."

"You can't actually believe that. Daddy knows EXACTLY what he's doing! He's being a prude!"

Mama laughs, probably at the thought of the word Prude being applied to her husband. From what I've seen and heard coming from their bedroom, it's probably not something she'd ever think to call him. But I'd really rather never think about that again.

"Dani, Baby, you need to be patient. Daddy isn't what either of us would call reasonable, but he's your father, and he loves you. He's not going to do something that's going to hurt you. You need to trust that. I do."

"That's easy for you to say," I groan, "He's not killing _your _sex life." Mama gets an odd look in her eye that I disregard.

"Have you stopped to think that maybe he's doing this as much for Kale as he is for you? Do you think Kale needs this big a distraction when he's trying to sort through all of the things he's learning?"

I don't like the way she's turning this conversation into a defense of Daddy. He's the one ruining everything and being unreasonably archaic, not me!

"And have you even considered that you're only fifteen—"

"Almost sixteen!"

"And that maybe you don't need to be worrying about 'your sex life' for another few years? You've got forever Dani, why rush things?" She's leaning against the kitchen counter, arms crossed beneath her breasts and a smug look I hate on her face.

"That's not the _point,_" I seethe. This conversation isn't going at all how I'd planned. She was supposed to be on my side! I crossed my own arms, scowling at her where she stood and fighting back tears. No, this wasn't going at all well.

"What's the point then, Dani? We are your parents, and maybe, just maybe, you should accept that we know what's best for you right now."

I stamp my foot and growl beneath my breathe. "Fine," I shout, "I should have known you'd take his side!"

"Dani, sweetheart, don't be like that," she tries to soothe, but I won't have it. If she thinks she knows what's best then she can just be that way! I don't care.

"Like what? Like you pretended to understand before, gave me condoms and told me to be careful, and now you're on _his _side and trying to keep me from having a _life?_"

"Dani—"

"Well FINE! I don't CARE!" I shout, turning my back on the woman who raised me and running up to my room to throw myself across the light blue bedspread.

I should have known this was how it would end up. Daddy's too controlling to let me have any sort of life, and Mama's way to in love with him to freaking disagree…

I feel the tears running down my cheeks and the anger and resentment coursing through my body as I shake on the bed.

Damn them. Damn them both.

***

_JUNE 2536_

If I were going to be fair, I'd have to admit that I've been pissy since the conversation in which my mother proved herself to be firmly on my father's side, and completely unsympathetic to my plight. But I don't have to be fair, and I've had a way better attitude than either of my parents deserve. Daddy still won't talk to me about his over-protectiveness and Mama just smiles because she likes seeing me miserable. I hate them.

I sit at the table, picking at my food. Kale's sitting across from me, so at least I can look up and see him.

Looking at the four of us like this, I get the beginnings of an idea. It niggles at me until I finally give voice to it.

"Kale, I was thinking we should go out for a walk tonight."

He bites his tongue and Daddy speaks smoothly, "Kale doesn't have time for that. I'm taking him hunting tonight, and we won't be back until late."

But I'm not going to let him shut me down so easily. "Well, we can go before then. You don't have to leave right after dinner." Kale's looking down at his plate. I want him to look at me.

"No, Danielle. Not tonight." Daddy's words sound final, but I'm not giving up. He can't do this. We eat in silence for a couple minutes before I speak up again.

"You know, Kale, it's odd how we never seem to spend any time alone anymore. You would almost think we were being kept apart."

His eyes remain on his food, and I can see a slow blush creep up from the neck of his shirt all the way to his cheeks. "Let it go, Dani."

"No, I mean, it just seems like my parents are trying to keep us from being alone together. Don't you think?" I ask, pressing the issue. Why isn't he looking at me?

"Dani, please don't do this."

"No! Why aren't you speaking out against this unfairness?" He continues to ignore me and I'm growing more upset, desperate even, as I go on. "I know you like me! Why aren't you doing anything about this?"

"Dani, sweetie," Mama tries.

"No, Mom!" I slam my fist on the table. Some small, quiet voice in my head tells me I'm yelling now, far louder than dinner conversation permits. I can feel tears starting in my eyes and my father's patient gaze only makes it worse. I scream across the table, "Why won't you look at me?!"

He does look at me then, his beautiful lips compressed in a thin line. "Danielle, stop."

Danielle? He's never called me that in his life. I stare at him, lips trembling, body shaking. There are tears on my face as I focus on his face. Everything else is blurred out.

"It was just a walk," I whisper. "I just wanted to walk with you."

His dark blue eyes look at me with something like sympathy. He enunciates clearly, "Dani, I'm going hunting with your father. I'm sorry."

I stand abruptly from the table and run to my room. I'm kind of surprised that Daddy didn't force me back to the table. He isn't much for displays like this. I throw myself across my bed and cry, barely aware of the sound of the back door slamming.

"God DAMN it!"

I crawl over to the window and open it quietly. Kale's in the backyard, sending enormous bolts of electricity into the tire swing. I can see his muscles straining from here. I hope you kill yourself training, I think bitterly.

Daddy walks out to Kale in the moonlight. I can hear him pretty clearly from here.

"Get yourself under control. I won't take you out like this."

"Under control? Sir, were you in there just now? How much more control do you expect me to have?"

"More than this. You need to calm down. If you need to release the excess energy, you can kill the prey tonight. But you have to be better than this."

Kale slumps. He doesn't say anything, but Daddy responds to what's in his head.

"I told you the rules. You will respect my daughter the way we discussed or I will make you suffer. She's only fifteen, you can wait." He listens again and laughs.

"She's my daughter, Kale. Nothing she says is going to be as simple as that."

I have to strain to catch Kale's next words. "She's going to hate me," he says almost miserably. Too late. I already do.

But Daddy laughs again and pats Kale's shoulder. "Only until she loves you again."

I shut the window. I don't want to hear any more. I curl up on my bed and cry until I fall asleep.

***

_JULY 2536_

I'm sick of being ignored, sick of being left behind. Every freaking week Kale and Daddy go hunting, and the night's they're not killing people, they're practicing new powers. It's not like Daddy doesn't make an effort to spend time with me, he always has. Every day he comes in and we have a chat, make dinner together, or go for a run… but I can't help feeling that the time he spends with kale is more… productive.

That's why I'm here, poised on the ledge of this ten story building while Daddy and Kale are out bartering at the market. Mama's going to be pissed when she finds out I left the house. I'm not supposed to unless either of them are with me; yet another way to keep me a child forever. But I'm fifteen now, almost sixteen, and I have to gain independence some day.

I take another tentative step towards the edge, peering out and at the ground. I hadn't realized the building was this tall. It had looked shorter from the ground. I get a little dizzy at the prospect of the drop.

Still. I've made this decision. If Kale gets to practice his power on a regular basis, it only follows that I should do the same, and if Daddy won't help me…

Well a high ledge is just as friendly as my family these days.

I peer down again. The road looks so narrow from this height. Maybe I should just—but no. That would mean I'm not as dedicated or as worthwhile as Kale. I have to do this, have to prove that I can do this. Besides, it's not like there will be that much damage. I've never had trouble healing before.

Then again, I've never jumped off of a ten story building.

"Dani, what are you doing?"

I flinch at the sound of Kales voice, close behind me, teetering for a moment as shock and dizziness make me sway. His hand on the back of my dress pulls me back before I can lose my balance. He lets me go as soon as I'm steady, take a few steps away from me and folding his hands behind his back.

"What do _you _want?" I hiss, turning to face him. The warm wind buffets my skirt, wraps around my legs. Kale flinches as I take a step to steady myself.

"Your father sent me," he says in answer.

I scoff. "You expect me to believe that?"

"He was busy," Kale takes another step forward, cocking his head to the side. "What are you doing?" he repeats.

I scowl at him. "I should think that's fairly obvious." I turn back around to peer off the building.

"Don't be like this, Dani. Please." His voice sounds almost pained. Good. Maybe now he'll understand what it's been like watching him and Daddy these past few months, what it's been like wanting to talk to him like I used to and not being able to.

"Why not? You and Daddy seem to think practice is more important than family. More important than friendship. It only follows that I should think so too."

"That's not what it's about," he says softly, taking another step in my direction.

"God, Kale. Can't you just leave me alone? I've spent _months_ trying to get your attention and you haven't been interested. The least you can do is go away now that I want solitude."

He doesn't say anything to that, only takes another step forward.

"Dani?"

"What?" I ask bitterly.

"I want to spend time with you."

"You want to spend time with my father more." I can hardly breathe now and the tears are coming. God damn it. Why can't I feel something without crying?

"I don't want to… I have to. Some of these abilities are dangerous. Until I learn to control them, keep the compulsion to use them down… it's not safe to lose control around you." I whirl back around to face him. His eyes are downcast. I wish he'd look at me.

"Who said anything about losing control?" I'm crying openly now. I probably look disgusting. Maybe it's a good thing he refuses to look at me.

"It's not really a choice when I'm around you anymore, Dani…" his voice trails off. "You're so damn pretty."

I can't believe this is what we've been reduced to. I know he likes me, and God knows I like him… but things have gotten so complicated with Daddy's stubborn insistence that we be kept apart.

"Just go away Kale," I whisper, turning back around to face the street. I have to do this. I have to jump. Maybe that'll make it all go away. I've never tried this before…

"Dani, please."

"Why are you really here?" I ask, trying to keep my shaking sobs from my voice.

"I told you, your father sent me."

"You're lying." I can always tell when he's not telling the truth. I've certainly known him long enough. Besides, Daddy would never send him if he thought I was in danger. But then, I'm probably not in any real danger. Pain is the only thing a healer like me has to fear.

"Isn't it enough that I'm here?" He's pleading with me, begging me to take a step back and talk to him. Finally. Here's the moment I've been waiting for. The alone time I've been craving. But somehow it feels hollow.

"No, Kale. It's not. Not when all you want is to take me home. You don't want to talk. You just want to control me. Just like _him_.

"No, Dani come on. You know- DANI!"

But I don't hear the rest of what he's saying because I've jumped. I'm free falling through the air, my hair and dress whipping out behind me as I go down, down, down.

And then there's a sudden stop, a jolt.

But blissfully, no pain. I can't believe a drop like that has resulted in this painless weightlessness, this weird rushing in my ears. It's like I'm flying, still falling through the air at speeds so fast I can't even move.

Can my eyes open? They can. And I see the city beneath me, rushing by in a whirl. Decaying bridges no one uses any more, old roads overgrown, the camps I've only heard of but never seen. The ones I came from.

And then I notice the weight around my waist, around my chest. It's Kale, his arms wrapped tight around me, keeping me pressed against him so I'm not buffeted by the wind.

And I can't help it. Through teary eyes and a stuffed nose, I laugh against the wind.

***

_Later…_

He sets me down on a street a few blocks away from our house.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he demands. "Are you happy now that you've recklessly jumped off a building?"

I just stand there, catching my breath. That was the most exhilarating thing in the world. Kale doesn't seem to think so, though.

"You are so goddamn _stupid_! What is wrong with you?"

He's pissing me off now. "Don't you insult me, Kale Flint. We both know I would have been fine."

"Just because you have that power doesn't mean you have to test it!" he yells. He takes three quick steps, grabs me by the arms, and shakes me hard. "Why did you do that? Why?"

His temper should frighten me, but it's only feeding my own. "I told you why, Kale! I'm sick of feeling like I'm invisible to you, and sick of being treated like a baby!"

His eyes glint dangerously and his grip tightens momentarily before he lets go and turns around, stalking a few steps away. I watch as his muscles tense beneath his shirt and he starts shaking. Suddenly his hands are full of fire.

"Kale!" I gasp and take a step toward him.

"Stop. Just…wait," he grits out. _Oh my God. Something's wrong_. My mind starts running away with itself, but he slowly gets himself under control. The shaking ceases and the flames around his hands die down. I'm afraid to get closer.

He turns to face me again, a mixture of solemnity and shame on his face.

"Now do you see, Dani? Do you see why I spend so much time with your dad?" He stands alone, apart from me. "I want so badly to be with you…but I'm afraid to get too close. You're a hell of a distraction, and my focus gets shaky."

He bites his lip and looks down. "I'm sorry I shouted at you. You just make me so _angry_ sometimes, and it was kind of freaky to watch you jump off that ledge."

I feel awful. Mama and Daddy were right when they said that Kale needed the help. I walk tentatively up to him and put my arms around him.

"I'm sorry too, Kale. I didn't mean to get so jealous that I made you lose control," I whisper. He hesitates before returning the hug. We stand that way for a minute, and I think to myself that it's the nicest feeling in the world before he gently pushes me away from him.

"Your parents are waiting for us at home. We're in trouble," he says darkly. We walk back to the house hand in hand, until he lets go and opens the door for me. And of course Mama and Daddy are in the living room.

"Danielle," my father says quietly. My stomach flips at the sound of his voice. It's flat and low, like he's barely in control of his temper. _Shit_. Kale and I sit on the couch, careful not to touch.

"You left the house without supervision to stand on the outside of a building and throw yourself off. I'd like to say I don't know what possessed you to do it, but unfortunately I do. If you ever do something that stupid again, you will regret it." Mama, who normally gets tetchy when Daddy says things like that, only looks on with stony eyes.

"You betrayed our trust, Dani." She sets her jaw and I know that she's hurt. I feel really bad now.

"I'm so, so sor—"

"Be quiet," Daddy's voice cuts through mine like a knife. "I'm not finished."

"Kale," he directs his attention to the boy next to me, "I would like to hear the explanation you've come up with."

"Yes sir. I left the market, to spend some time with your daughter. She was on the ledge and I couldn't let her fall. So I flew her here." His eyes, which have been on my father this whole time, fall at Daddy's next question.

"Don't lie by omission, Kale. What did you do?" He sounds terrifying and awful. Mom never sounds this way. I think it must be a father thing.

"I was angry," Kale recounts quietly. "I yelled, and I almost…lost control. I didn't burn anything, though."

Daddy looks at him for a long minute. Nobody says anything, and the silence is making me sick.

"Daddy…" I say finally, "Daddy, he didn't hurt me. And he saved me from getting splattered all over the pavement."

Mama looks like she's biting her tongue to keep from saying something, but Daddy nods once.

"Kale, outside. We're going to work until your control is noticeably better, and I'm going to provide you with extra incentive." I flinch. He's going to hurt Kale, I just know it. But Kale stands up, and he doesn't even look scared, just determined and kind of resigned.

"Don't worry, Dani," he assures me as I stand up. "I need to get better, and your dad will help me. This isn't your fault." So why do I feel like it is?

Mama stands next to me as we hear the backdoor close.

"Hope you learned something today, kiddo," she says quietly.

***

_AUGUST 2536_

Its August, my birthday. Mama has made a chocolate cake and lemon chicken. Daddy and Kale stayed home for the day, no training, no hunting, just me. It's been wonderful. Of course, I'm apparently still not allowed to be alone with Kale, but after what happened that last time we tried… I still can't get the sound of his screams coming from the back yard out of my head.

And so we all spend time together, Mama, Daddy, Kale and I.

We go for a run in the morning, keeping a steady pace as we make a round down the high street and towards the island before doubling back. I slow before my parents and Kale does the same. Soon we're barely even jogging, and finally we slow to a walk.

My heart is pounding and there's a thin sheen of sweat along my skin. The sun is so hot I can feel my skin heating. It's a very good thing I don't get sunburns. I watch Mama and Daddy jog ahead of us, slowing their pace to keep an even distance. Even here we're not allowed to be completely alone.

"It's freaking hot out today," I comment, fanning myself with a hand and strategically lifting the tight shirt I'm wearing to bare my midriff.

Beside me, Kale smiles but refuses to stare.

I think he thinks its gentlemanly or something. I just find it annoyingly obtuse.

"What," I tease, twisting the shirt in back to keep the hem bunched beneath my breasts. I'm not exactly weighed down by them, but I've filled out pretty nicely in the last few years if I do say so myself. Hopefully I can make Kale notice. "Don't you like to look?"

Beside me, his grin widens and a blush darkens his cheeks. He looks good blushing and overheated like that, with sweat running down from his neck to the waist of his sweatpants. He's not wearing a shirt, so the view of just exactly what his training has developed is excellent.

He glances over at me and I arch my back, letting my head drop back and my braided hair brush against my bottom as I inhale and pretend to sigh. My breasts are conveniently displayed in the process. I can't help the blush that climbs up my own cheeks in response. I've never been quite this… active about flirting before. Thank God Daddy is far ahead of us.

When I look back over at Kale, he's staring determinedly ahead, biting his lip and swallowing though his throat is dry.

I glance up ahead to make sure my parents aren't watching, and then I slow to a dead stop, grabbing Kales arm and spinning him to face me. He moves easily, even for being off kilter.

"Look at me," I order, cocking my head to the side. His eyes are tightly shut and he's still biting that lower lip.

_Let me…_ I think.

And finally his eyes flutter open, dark lashes exposing dark blue eyes I could swim in.

He's looking me in the eye, but soon his gaze wanders, following the line of my cheek, down to my neck… shoulders. His eyes linger on my breasts before drinking in the golden skin at my midriff and then snapping back up to meet my steady gaze.

"You've gotta stop teasing me, Dani." He whispers, voice hoarse. I laugh aloud.

"Who says I'm teasing?" I murmur, "Everything you see, you can have."

His throat constricts as his eyes flutter shut. Is he thinking about it? The way his eyes dart back and forth before closed lids tell me he is.

"You don't mean that," he says, he's trying very hard not to open those eyes again.

I laugh. "I definitely mean it," I say, inching closer to him and grabbing one of his hands in mine. His palms are warm.

He grimaces, a look of absolute pain on his face.

Oh. God. That explains a lot.

I drop his hand like it's made of molten metal, taking a few steps back and whirling around.

I can hardly speak… not when he's looking at me like that. How could I be so stupid? It's obvious how he feels… pain. Freaking pain at the thought of touching me. How could I have missed this?

"You… Ass hole!" I hiss, trying to breathe and blinking rapidly. I'm an idiot. Such an idiot. "Why didn't you tell me!" I sound like I'm about to cry, and I am, and I can't care, not when I feel like this. Not when the only boy I've ever—when he's repulsed by the thought of kissing me again.

This explains so much. Why he hasn't fought like I have to get some alone time, why he got so mad at me after the building… Why he spends every waking moment with my father.

His eyes fly open, and he has the nerve to look confused. "I don't—"

"When were you planning on telling me you aren't interested?" I shriek, whirling back towards him and stalking forward. For once, I'm glad of my height. On tiptoes I'm able to look him in those lying, cowardly eyes.

"Dani, what are you—"

"Were you going to wait until you found me naked in your bed? Were you going to let me humiliate myself and then have a good laugh with Daddy about 'poor little Dani," pining away after her best friend?"

"No! I'd never—"

"Liar!" I let my fists fly, hitting him right in the jaw and then slamming my other clenched fist into his gut. Daddy taught me how to hit, and by God if I didn't learn well.

He sinks to his knees, trying to catch his breath and looking thoroughly perplexed. I can't stand him. I kick his stupid perfect chin and hear his teeth slam together quite satisfyingly before I turn heel and run.

I can't be there anymore, can't stand to look at him for another God Damned second.

I'm watching where I step through bleary eyes, seeing Mama and Daddy get closer in the distance… and then from behind me, something hurtles into my back, tossing me foreword and then spinning to land with me on top of it. I'm shocked for half a second before I realize that it's _him, _and then I'm fighting; twisting and writhing and scratching like a demon.

"Bastard," I scream, "Fucking gutless, sniveling son of a –"

But then I can't speak anymore because his lips on mine cut me off as he rolls, pinning me to the hard packed earth and pressing heavily against my body. I can feel his weight above me, and something hard against my belly… Oh God. I guess he really did like what he saw.

And I'm blushing and arching and kissing him back for all I'm worth, savoring the feel and panting as he breaks away…

I'm left bereft when the steady weight of his body is wrenched from over mine.

"What, the hell, do you think, you're doing?" Daddy's voice is low, dangerous. He's angry. I wouldn't be surprised if he's going to take out the anger on Mama in their bedroom tonight… But somehow, as he throws Kale off of me and sends him spinning across the road to land in moaning heap, I can't bring myself to care much.

Daddy grabs my arm, drags me to my feet and pushes me towards Mama before rounding on Kale.

Kale stand up, joints popping back into place as he meets Daddy's gaze. They're probably going to fight now. Daddy's going to lose his temper and Kale is going to be punished…

But somehow that all seems secondary, because as Mama pulls my arm to keep me at her side, and the men in my life face each other scowling, all I can think is, "Happy Birthday to me!"

***

_OCTOBER 2536_

I'm picking out my clothes for the day when the knock comes at my door. "Danielle?"

"Come in," I call as I pull on my robe. Daddy enters the room and shuts the door behind him.

"I need to speak to you. About…recent events," he says. I sit on the bed and pat the spot next to me, and he sits.

Recent events. That's a weird way to describe what's been happening. After Kale tackled me on my birthday, Daddy…he was scary. He electrocuted Kale—just for a few seconds, and Mama said it wasn't very bad, but Kale's body was twitching and jumping. Daddy's been pushing him even harder since then, and Kale takes it. The whole thing pisses me off, but Kale just works even harder and tells me how Daddy is right, he's always right. Bull.

"Danielle. I understand that you've been upset regarding…" he waves his hand expressively, "things. I wanted to avoid this conversation, but your mother was unable to explain everything appropriately to you, and I want you to understand the other side of this situation.

"You've seen for yourself that Kale has some lethal powers, and that he occasionally has lapses in control. He's young, and he needs help. I have given him specific guidelines to aid him, but it occurs to me that you would benefit from these as well."

"Daddy, I know he's training. I got it," I tell him exasperatedly. I'm really sick of hearing it by now.

"No, you don't," he corrects me, "which is why I'm going to explain this as clearly as I can stand to." He pauses for a minute and it occurs to me: he's super uncomfortable right now. The thought makes me uncomfortable.

"I know you like Kale," he starts. Oh God. "That doesn't excuse your behavior. I've outlined in detail how he is to conduct himself around you, but your actions are making it unnecessarily difficult for him to act appropriately."

"Daddy, please don't—"

"Don't interrupt me again," he says coldly. I shut my mouth and cringe.

"You cannot continue to flirt with him so…brazenly. It makes him useless for hours afterward, and it erodes what control he has," Daddy preaches. I would roll my eyes, but I know from experience how well he takes that. "I'm tired of listening to his overactive hormonal fantasies. If you can't be sensitive to all this…"

He stops and rubs the back of his neck, starts again. "If you have to…do things with him, could you at least try to wait until he's better trained?"

I don't answer him. He obviously doesn't want me to, and this whole conversation is so embarrassing. I want to die. Maybe he feels the same way, because he stands and opens the door.

He turns back and ends his diatribe, "I've punished him for his actions in this, but if you test his limits and ignore my wishes, I can punish you just as easily. Don't push me." He looks at me steadily and I know he'll make good on his threat. But there's no way he wants to.

He leaves and I go back to my closet. I still need something to wear, after all.

Downstairs I sit next to Kale at the breakfast table. He's munching on some warm bread.

"He talk to you?" he asks casually. I suppress a laugh. There are no secrets in this house.

"Yep," I reply just as casually. "He wants me to stop tempting you."

He chuckles. "Good luck with that. I'd sure appreciate it, though."

I am, oddly, in high spirits. He likes me, and that's enough for right now. Or at least today.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi. Just wanted to thank you all for sticking with us. We realize it may be hard to be as connected to original characters as the authors, but we promise Claire and Sylar are coming back. The reason we have chosen to post Volumes Three and Four quickly, is because there is a great deal of plot included which is essential to volume five from Claire's perspective. And, Sylar and Claire are not completely absent from Danielle and Kale's point of view. However, we do realize this is a place for fanfiction, and thus the quick pace. Please remember to review. We love to hear what you have to say. It gives us a reason to keep writing. **

**Also, heads up. Chuck and I are working on a completely new fanfiction revolving around Claire and Sylar, and inspired by Let It Bleed. :) Once we are comfortable with it, we will begin to post. **

**--Mel and Chuck**

_OCTOBER 2539_

"I don't like this, Danielle," Daddy is standing in the middle of the tiny apartment living room, a box beneath one arm and another levitating before him. "This isn't safe."

I only smile, setting my own box down on the coffee table and meeting Mama's gaze. She looks worried.

"It'll be fine," I assure them, surveying my new apartment with pleasure. This is completely new to me, the concept of my own place. I mean, it's not like a proper house. It reminds me a lot of the place we used to live when I was a child. One bedroom, a living room connected to a kitchen, and a bathroom. That's the extent of it.

Still, I'm ridiculously happy with it.

"You have no idea the danger you could face here—"

"Daddy, please. We've talked about this. I'm going to be safe! You taught me how to protect myself."

He sets down the boxes and folds his arms in that pose that means he's trying to take control. "This is the inner city, Danielle, and I am uncomfortable with you gallivanting around to chase some misplaced idea of independence."

I roll my eyes and Daddy clenches his teeth. He hates it when I do that.

"Look Daddy, I've got to grow up sometime. I'm 19… did you honestly expect me to live with you for ever?"

Mama cuts it before he can respond. "No, what we expected was for you to show us the consideration of listening to our century's worth of experience. You have no idea how dangerous this world can be. You've been largely sheltered for your entire life."

I sigh. "Really, I'm going to be fine."

It isn't until Kale speaks up from the doorway that I notice he's made it inside. "Maybe you should listen to your parents Dani, I mean, you don't exactly have a regular job. How are you going to keep up the payments on this place?"

I scowl. Of course he would remind me of that. He had been the one to accompany me to the trade center in search of employment after all. He had also been the one to set the man who suggested I 'earn a proper living on my back' on fire. I hadn't minded a bit. The man had been revolting.

"The employment specialist took my information," I defend, crossing my arms and squaring off against Kale.

He scoffs. "We all know what kind of work they're going to find you, and we all know that we'd rather you starve than take it."

From the other side of the room, Daddy growls. "Kale,"

"Sorry, Sir," He mutters, folding his arms and facing me again.

"That's an awful thing to say," my voice is shaky. I feel like punching him in the perfect face. The last three years with Kale have been remarkably easy. We both learned to control ourselves soon after hormones made his training difficult, and since then things have become almost normal. He's the friend I've always known, without the complication of a burgeoning attraction to distract him.

The heated dreams that have plagued me all this time are completely inconsequential… as is the way I catch him looking at me sometimes, eyes smoldering and mouth slightly parted. Until Daddy says he's fully in control of himself, things have to stay completely innocent.

I find myself wishing for half a second that Kale was ready…

"Come on, Dani, you just don't want to admit that this is a bad idea."

I scowl and the moment passes.

"You're a complete Shit, you know that Kale?" I say sweetly.

Mama frowns and Daddy seethes.

"You will not use that language in my presence," he says softly.

Hands on hips, I face the three of them.

"Right. Look," I say, "Thank you guys for helping me move this stuff. I should probably unpack now." It's a dismissal and everyone in the room knows it. Mama looks hurt by it, and Daddy… well he just looks on, that furiously unreadable expression on his face.

By the door, Kale coughs.

Daddy turns on his heel and strides confidently out of the little apartment, brushing by Kale as he goes.

Mama takes a few steps and then pauses.

"Your father is worried about you," she says, "and so am I. Living alone, especially in the middle of the city like this… it's dangerous, Baby."

I nod. "Yeah. But you two can't protect me forever."

She gulps, gets that look in her eyes that says they probably could, and then speaks again.

"People are going to try to take advantage of you, because of your age. And it's never going to stop. I have a feeling you're just as done ageing as I am…"

She's right, I think. I haven't gotten taller in a few years, and my body… it hasn't changed since I turned 18.

"I know," I saw, smiling reassuringly. "I'll be fine."

Mama forces herself to smile and nod, and then she leaves. I'm left alone, Kale lingering in the doorway.

"Dani—"

"I think I've had quite enough of your doomsday attitude," I interrupt.

He growls, taking a step forward, hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"You're being childish," he accuses.

I scoff. "Hardly."

There's a long, awkward pause.

"Look. About us. I talked to your dad the other day—"

"Can we do this another time, Kale? I'm really tired." The look on his face is like a fist to the gut and I instantly regret my short temper. "Oh God, Kale I'm sorry. I'm just really…" My voice trails off as his gaze grows cold.

"It's fine," he says stiffly, turning his back on me deliberately and making his way out of the apartment. "Have a great day."

He disappears after my parents and I'm left in the middle of my brand new apartment, feeling terribly guilty and wanting to get out.

I sit there for a while, going over the entire exchange in my head. I shouldn't have been so short with them. They're only worried about me. And Kale… how stupid can I be.

A knock at the door makes me jump.

Hell.

It's probably just my parents, bringing something I've forgotten, or Kale coming to apologize.

I cross the room to the door, peering through the peephole like I've been taught. I nearly gasp at what I see.

It's a man. A stranger. I scramble back, rushing to the nearest box and digging through it as the man knocks again. My heart is racing.

At the third knock, I come up with a hand gun. Thank God Daddy thought to load it before we came.

"Coming," I call. The knocks cease.

I make my way back to the door, wary and thinking charitable thoughts in my parent's direction for making sure the front door was reinforced steel.

"Who is it?" I call, not bothering to unlock the door.

"Arric Duan. Ketra from the employment agency sent me." I let out a breath. She had mentioned she might be sending her associate by with more placement options.

"If any of the offers have to do with me laying on my back, or any variation thereof, you can tell Ketra to screw herself."On the other side of the door there is a stunned silence and then a hearty laugh. Kale was right, I'd rather starve then whore myself out. Besides. For years I've been saving that particular gift for a certain person…

"Not at all," he calls out, voice muffled. "While certain interested parties would find your area of expertise… amusing, your discomfort with that option was duly noted," I chuckle. "I'm here to discuss your future as a finder."

My jaw drops and I stand, stunned.

"Miss. Gray?"

I draw the deadbolts back, opening the door and keeping the gun trained on the man. He's handsome, not something I really noticed through the peephole. Light brown hair and whiskey colored eyes work with a sun tanned complexion and startlingly white teeth to make him disconcertingly good looking.

He eyes me in return, sweeping glance taking me in before a wide smile splits his face and I am left breathless… My God. He's… wonderful.

I find myself wondering just what those lips would feel like, on my breasts, my stomach…

"Can I come in?" He asks.

I nod, stepping aside.

Of course he can. I could no more refuse an angel.

***

NOVEMBER 2539

The door opens and Mama's face breaks into a giant smile. "Dani!"

My parents moved, to an apartment that's like three times the size of mine. It isn't that they disliked our old house—but this apartment is much closer to mine. It's annoying, but it's far enough away that I put up with it. I know they're doing it out of love, and I can't do anything about it anyway.

Mama brings me to sit at the table, holding my hand and practically glowing. Daddy's leaning against the counter and I kiss him before sitting next to Mama.

"Tell us about your new job, sweetie," Mom encourages. I feel so important when I come home. They all want to know everything I've done since I was last here. It feeds my ego, just a little.

"Well, currently, in the inner city a lot of people will register their powers with the company I work for. So as a finder, I match those people with customers who are in need of their services. So just like I registered and was matched with a job."

"Why were you matched to this particular career?" Kale speaks up from the doorway.

I press my lips together. No one's going to like the answer to that question, but I can't ignore it. And judging by Daddy's expression, he already knows.

"Some people are…well the term is 'possibly hazardous', but all it means that my boss wants me to use caution when approaching them. And a lot of people are just super nervous when someone shows up at their door offering a job out of nowhere. Accidents have happened in the past, and Ketra thought that since I can't be permanently wounded, I would be an ideal finder," I explain in the most soothing way I know how. It doesn't work.

"All it takes is one person to jam something into the back of your head and you'd be screwed," Mom says.

"Did Ketra not think of that?"

"I don't think she knows," I reply. "I try not to advertise the fact that I'm not 100% indestructible. I thought it was the smartest way to play it." And really, what are they supposed to say to that? They know I'm right.

We talk for a few more minutes before Mama glances meaningfully in Kale's direction. Daddy arches an eyebrow and nods almost imperceptibly. What the hell?

"We're glad to hear that you haven't gotten into trouble yet," Daddy says. "Your mother and I are going to go for a walk, but you and Kale should catch up." They head for the door and he turns.

"And Danielle. I'd rather you didn't go on this date tonight, but if you must go then be safe." He tosses me a sheathed knife with some sort of strap attached. "Take this with you and wear it."

The front door closes and Kale looks at me, stunned. "What is he talking about?"

Damn. I really didn't want to get into this tonight, and now thanks to Daddy I can't avoid it.

"I'm going out tonight with a man from work," I tell him. I'm going for casual, but it comes out more like a guilty confession. "His name's Arric and we met last month."

I'm expecting anger, fury even, but instead all I see is confusion. He repeats, "A date?"

I sigh, ready to placate him, but he pulls out a chair beside me and takes my hand in his. "Dani, I need to tell you something. I tried when you were moving in, but you didn't want to hear it, and now I think you need to. Your father's decided that I—"

"Kale honey, I'm really sorry, but I need to get going," I interrupt. "He's picking me up at my place in like twenty minutes, so I have to leave."

He stands with me. "I'll fly you home."

"That's sweet of you, but I'd rather walk. I'm not dressed for flying."

"Fine," he says impatiently, "I'll walk you home."

So we set out and I start telling him how Arric and I met. I love thinking about Arric.

"Oh Kale, I think I love him," I gush. "He's just…what he makes me feel is indescribable. We have such great chemistry."

His face twists and he stops. "What are you saying?"

The pain in his expression…it's so sad. Clearly he still feels something for me. "Kale…you're my best friend. We'll always have that, and it's special. But—"

"Dani, if you would just listen to me! We could be more than that…" He trails off as he looks at me. I feel so infatuated with Arric, I'm sure it just radiates from me.

I turn around to see Arric waiting on my doorstep. I look back at Kale, who looks forlorn and sad in comparison.

"Kale," I say before I leave him, "I'm really, really sorry. But what I feel for him…it's way more than anything I felt for you."

I turn then and walk to Arric, who embraces me and kisses me soundly. I feel awful for Kale, I do. But how can I go back and comfort him, when Arric's right here with me?

"Hey sugar," he says, sliding his arm around my waist. "You look great." Well, I do. I piled my hair up and let a few curls spill down artistically, and I'm wearing a black dress that shows off my curves without being trashy. He likes black on women. He told me it makes them look mysterious and sexy.

"Who was that?" he asks curiously.

I stop staring at his face long enough to answer, "Oh, no one. Just a friend of the family."

***

_Later that Evening_

I can't get over how perfect Arric is. From the top of his head, (a lovely two inches shorter than mine) to the tips of his low heeled leather boots, he is flawless. Walking with him is like being a star in the presence of the sun. All I can do is bask, and enjoy it.

We settle into a quiet table in an ancient looking restaurant off the high street. The glass in the windows is old and dirty, but being here with Arric… well I can't help but look at him to the exclusion of all else. If there is a God, I imagine he is something like the man pulling out the chair for me right now.

I sit, flattered at his thoughtfulness.

"Thank you," I say demurely, folding the napkin into my lap like Mama taught me and staring nervously at him. He smiles down at me before taking the seat on the other side of the table and lifting the menu.

I can't be bothered. We've been out before, and I know for certain that he does a perfectly good job ordering for the both of us. Besides, I wouldn't want to do anything to make him feel like anything other than the fantastic man he is.

The waiter comes by and I glance up at him. Green eyes, blonde hair… Gauche. He's hardly an Arric. I let my eyes settle back on the man across from me, licking my lips and letting my curls brush the tops of my exposed breasts.

His eyes follow the blonde hair to the flesh there, and feast. I smile at his reaction. He's so perfect, making me feel worthwhile like that.

"I'll have the Cheetah," he says, handing the menu back to the waiter. I blush. That's a very expensive dish. "And the lady will have your greens. We're watching our weight."

I feel my heart break a tiny bit. He's so right. I'm a cow. I'm so big! It's not right for me to be bigger than him. He's the man here. He doesn't need me emasculating him every ten seconds. And I feel quite certain that I could live on cabbage and water for the rest of my life if it would make me dwindle away to the proper size.

"So, Sugar," He's talking. I look up eagerly to watch his lovely mouth move. "I was thinking maybe after dinner we could go back to my place."

I nod my acquiescence, shivering in anticipation at the thought of being there, where he lives.

"Good," he said with a smile. My heart flutters again.

We talk over dinner, him telling me all about his latest assignment and me trying to listen as intently as possible. I respond when appropriate, laugh at the right times… I can only hope I'm making a good impression. God only knows what I'll do if he changes his mind about tonight.

We finish dinner. The salad is passable, if devoid of flavor. Arric digs into his meat with gusto. He even shares a piece with me, winking conspiratorial and saying "I won't tell if you won't." It's good, but the thought of all the weight I'm going to gain makes me want to cry.

We make our way to his place quickly. He holds my hand in his all the way over, and by the time we reach the front door of his loft, I'm in his arms. The pure sensation is sending me overboard as his hands sweep up and down by body, grazing the zipper of my dress before he pushes his door open and we stumble into the apartment.

He pushes me roughly against a wall and my head hits plaster. I swim in it a bit, the sharp jolt of sudden pain and then the pop as whatever was hurt heals. He couldn't have meant to do that. I push it out of my mind as his hands rove everywhere. Arric would never intentionally hurt me. He loves me!

And then his fingers are pinching at my bottom, pulling at my dress and hiking it up. Things are moving so fast.

"Yeah baby," his voice is almost hoarse. "You like that baby-doll? You want my cock in you?"

I shake my head from side to side. This feels… wrong….

"Arric, wait, I—"

But then I'm swimming in sensation again as he drags me to the ground, ripping my dress off of my body and leaving me in my black panties and bra. I feel strangely open in front of him, but he's distracting me again, making me pay attention as his teeth sink into the fabric covering my breast with bruising strength. I cry out.

"Mama likes it rough, doesn't she?" I'm confused, so confused… but so in need of him.

He backhands me, the heavy sound resounding in his small living room.

"Tell me you like it rough, Sugar," he orders.

I look up at him, bleary eyed. I don't understand…

He hits me again, knocking a tooth loose and watching, satisfied as it fixes itself.

"I- I like it rough," I stutter, meeting his gaze. And then I'm lost in those whiskey colored eyes, floating in them as he rips my bra off and palms my breasts, twisting nipples viciously and making me scream… It hurts so much… I want to cry but the haze of lust won't allow me.

Nails rake down exposed flesh as teeth sink into soft skin…

And then he's ripping my panties away…

And it stops. I'm reeling. Thanking God for making the pain stop and cursing him for ending the pleasure…

"Arric, Please," I moan, opening my eyes to find him.

He's kneeling above me, pants around his knees, and the look of loathing on his beautiful face stops my heart.

"What the fuck?" He asks, practically spitting at me.

I begin to sob.

"Arric, please! I like it rough, I like it rough!" I'm begging, practically sobbing, and I don't care.

"Fucking slut," he hisses, "what the fuck did you think you were doing, coming over here dripping from your cunt like you've just been stabbed? Were you trying to tease me?"

He lets his fist fly and it smashes into my cheek, shattering bone and making me scream.

"You're nasty, Danielle," he accuses, kicking in the ribs and leaving me to heal in solitude.

I am in pain, mortified. I hadn't known being on my period would upset him so much. I'm a failure, a failure as a woman, as a girlfriend. How could anyone so perfect ever love anyone so filthy?

I pick myself up off of his floor and make my way from the apartment, pulling up my half torn dress and trying to keep my blonde hair, speckled now with blood from my nose, out of my face. I'm barefoot, and my feet are cut over broken glass as I wander through the city in a haze…

Filthy. I'm so filthy.

***

_Still later…_

I don't know how long I've been out here, but it doesn't feel very long. Somewhere in my mind it occurs to me that I'm unfamiliar with this part of town. I'm hopelessly lost. But what does that matter when Arric is angry?

"Dani?" I turn to see Kale running toward me. "Dani, what the hell?"

I watch him with eyes that are burning and red. He reaches me, and I can't stand anymore. He catches me and holds me against him.

"Dani, sweetheart, please," he begs. "What happened to you? Tell me."

I try to talk through hiccups. The tears have started again, and suddenly my best friend is here to help me fix myself so that Arric could maybe someday tolerate me again. "We went home and he was talking, but it was mean, and I didn't like it, but I need him. And then I was bleeding and he was so angry and he, he…he said I was nasty!" I give myself up to sobbing in his shirt.

"You're bleeding?" he demands.

"It's just my period. But he hates me now!" Kale sighs at this but surprisingly does not blush.

"You've got more blood than that on you," he notes. "He hit you?"

"He told me I like it rough," I answer in a wobbly voice. "It's okay."

"Bullshit. If you liked it rough you wouldn't need him to tell you that." His face is growing red now. His eyes close for a minute. "Your dad is on his way here right now. We're gonna make this better."

He holds me tight in his arms and rocks me gently. When I open my eyes my parents are kneeling on the ground in front of us. I notice that my mother's eyes are filled with tears and that my father's mouth is trembling. I've never seen it do that before.

"Mommy?" I scramble to get away from Kale and she envelops me. "Mommy!"

She takes her dark blue jacket off and wraps it around me, squeezing me tight to her. Daddy looks at Kale. I think Kale's telling him something, because Daddy looks back at me.

"Danielle. Look at me. I need you to let me see you." I shake my head rapidly. I'm too filthy for anyone to look at. I'm astonished that anyone is willing to touch me, but I can't let go of my mother.

Gentle finger brush my jaw. The tenderness, when I've recently experienced violence, brings fresh tears to my eyes. My father coaxes my face to his view and looks into my eyes.

"Well that makes things difficult," he growls. Then, changing his tone, "Baby, tell me about this man."

"Arric. He's the most wonderful man in the world. He's handsome and perfect." Then I remember. "I don't deserve him. I'm so fat and ugly and he thinks I'm a slut, and now he'll never want me back." I collapse again in my mother's arms.

"Sweetie," she murmurs, "If you show us where he lives, we'll help him see that you're more than good enough for him." Something ugly twists her voice, but my heart leaps at her words. I show Daddy in my thoughts where Arric's house is, and he stands.

"It'll be faster to fly," he says decisively. "Kale, take Danielle." The four of us get to Arric's in a matter of minutes. We touch down, but Kale doesn't let go of me. Daddy blows the door off the hinges, and I start hyperventilating. Arric's going to be angry…and why are we breaking in if we're going to show Arric that I can get better?

"What the f—" he starts before Daddy has him against the wall.

"What are you doing?" I scream. "Stop it!" Even as I fear for him, every cell in my body yearns to be his.

"You're the man," Daddy growls. "It's time for my daughter to see what you really are."

Suddenly, it's like I'm in a different room. I no longer desire the man across the room, and I feel sick thinking that I ever did.

"What's happening to me?" I whisper, terrified. Mama turns to Daddy.

"The Haitian?" He nods once.

I don't understand what that means, but Kale informs me, "It's his power. He…inspires uncontrollable lust. It overpowered your senses."

What? Suddenly, I can almost taste the bloodlust in the room.

"You never meant to help me get him back," I say slowly, realization dawning. "You're going to kill him."

"That doesn't begin to cover it," Kale says ominously. Even more shocking than my previous recognitions is the one that hits me now: _I don't give a fuck._

"I can take you home now, Claire. We'll take care of you," he continues, but I shake my head stubbornly.

"No. I want to see it."

"Dani, I'm not sure that's a good idea…"

But Daddy speaks up, still looking murderously at Arric. "Let her stay. She can see what happens when people fuck around with my baby girl." Kale nods, fire in his eyes.

And it begins. And I learn exactly how cruel, vicious, and merciless my family can be. Kale holds me tight against him as Daddy hits Arric again and again. My sweet small mother removes the knife from her belt and digs it under each of his fingernails. More than once Arric screams out, "Just kill me, please, God!" And each time my parents smile ferociously and tell him that he isn't going to die for a long time. And it keeps going.

I guess if I doubted before, I know now that I am a terrible person. In spite of everything that has happened to me tonight, even though I am still so full of pain that I feel I could vomit, I relish each whimper and scream he makes. Daddy's graduated from fists to shocks of electricity, and the faint scent of burned flesh fills the room. And still they're not done. Mama breaks each of his fingers and toes, and now they all stick out at odd angles. Some of them have bones poking through the skin, and I find myself thankful that I can heal those like nothing.

She takes up her knife again and drives it slowly into his crotch and twists. She tugs the knife free and, over Arric's moans, asks Daddy to slow the bleeding.

"Please, God, please please," Arric blubbers pathetically. Daddy leans in and whispers in his torn ear.

"You stupid fool. I _am_ God, and you're in hell. And you won't die until I want you to." Arric shudders and falls silent.

Daddy steps back and Kale leaves my side. I'm supported by my parents on either side, and I watch as my best friend kicks Arric viciously. Kale's just as brutal as they were. He holds a flame close to his victim's face, letting the skin peel and blister and in some places melt. Then he starts lighting various body parts on fire, putting them out once the flesh is blackened. He lets Arric fall to the floor, screaming as he lands on his mangled feet.

"Let's see if you like when I fuck with your head," Kale says harshly. I don't know what he does, but suddenly Arric's shrieks have taken on a new intensity. They cease as soon as they began, and now he is…giggling. Laughing uncontrollably. What the hell?

Daddy answers my unspoken question as Arric starts crying again, "He's switching between the pain receptors and the pleasure receptors. It'll break him."

Kale goes on that way, shifting Arric from pleasure to pain and back. He seems tireless until I speak up.

"Kale?" He turns to face me, angry tears on his face.

"Please just kill him. I want him to die. I want this to be finished," I tell him with despair. Arric has suffered for hours, and as nice as it's been to see him writhe, I still hurt. I just want to go home.

Kale nods and does something we can't see. When he stands up, Arric's got blood and something that looks like gray matter oozing out of all his facial orifices.

My friend looks older, wearier than I've ever seen him. He walks to me and looks in my eyes. "I'm sorry."

I touch him cautiously, then move to lean against his broad chest. And then, surrounded by the people who love me, I start crying with abandon.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you again for all of your continued support. For the next few postings, please remember the M rating. It exists for a reason. :) But somehow, we don't think you'll mind. **

**--Mel and Chuck**

LATE NOVEMBER 2539

It's been a week, and I still can't get the stink of him off of my skin. It's like he's branded me, inside and out, and the thought makes me sick.

Mama finds me in their spare bedroom. I've been feeling sick lately despite the calming abilities Daddy has had permeating the new apartment. He offered right after to erase the whole thing… but somehow, I don't feel like that would help. It happened. I let it happen. If I hadn't been careless… well. Lets just say it's not a lesson I want to forget any time soon. This world is dangerous. I let my guard down, and I got hurt.

"Dani, Sweetheart?"

I jump at the sound of her voice, tearing my gaze from the window and turning to face her. My arms are crossed over my chest.

"Sorry to startle you," she apologizes, coming in and sitting next to me on the double bed. I shrug.

"I jump easy these day," I joke I don't think it strikes her as funny.

She sighs. "Dani—"

"Mom, can I ask you a question?" She sighs again, this time out of relief I think.

"Of course you can. Anything."

I nod. There's been something I've been meaning to ask her, something that's been preying on my mind since he struck me.

"The things you and Daddy do when you're alone in the bedroom," or anywhere else in the house, "is that… normal?"

Mama blinks, folding her hands in her lap and looking out of the window. There's a lovely tree outside of it that she watches sway for a few seconds before she answers. "Well… no. Not everything. I mean, I don't want you to think what we do is about violence, or hate… but the things we do aren't completely normal. It's different with us though. I like the pain, and your father… he enjoys making me feel."

"But I've seen you two," I say, trying not to make eye contact. "He… he hurts you. I've seen him use a knife on you."

Mama gives a mysterious little smile. "I don't know what to tell you, except that's not all we're about. The blood, the pain… it's not as common as it once was. We enjoy slow pleasure too." Her expression goes somber, "And what we have, it is most definitely not for everyone. Just because you can heal does not mean you have to demonstrate it. We are not beyond feeling pain, and we are the only ones who can draw our limits. If you do not enjoy pain, do not tolerate it." Her voice has grown strong, hard by the end of her speech and oddly enough, I feel comforted.

We are quiet for a while as I contemplate this. So… Mama likes pain. And Daddy likes causing it. It's not really something that surprises me, but as I imagine it happening to me, Kale stabbing me with the same silver knife I saw Daddy use… all I feel is dread in the pit of my stomach. No. I don't think that excites me.

Arric seemed to enjoy it though… But he was a sick fuck, an animal who messed with women's minds. Surely Kale would never—

My stomach sinks again at the thought of Kale.

"Mama?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"Do you think Kale will ever forgive me?"

Her sharp intake of breath worries me. Oh God. What does she know that I don't. she doesn't speak for a while, it looks like she's trying to get her features under control.

"Danielle Maira Gray," she seems almost angry and I flinch. "there is _nothing _to forgive." She says, turning to face me, a hand on my chin making me meet her gaze. "_Nothing._ You understand me?"

I nod, but I can't stop the damned tears.

"What is it, Dani?" She pulls me close and I lay my head on her shoulder, trying to catch my breath.

"I just… I was so awful to him."

"You didn't mean it, and he knows that."

I sob, "But I did! I meant it all! I remember how I felt, how much he annoyed me! And God, but I meant every word!"

Mama pats me on the back as I cry, letting my tears soak the front of her blouse.

"Dani, you were being manipulated. If the fucker hadn't messed with you, you would never have felt that way. _Never_. I know how you feel about Kale, and the fact that you feel this way now, proves that there is nothing to forgive you of. You were a victim." She pauses, setting her chin on top of my head before continuing. "Believe me baby, I've been there. I've been the victim. The guilt goes away, and soon you will realize that you hold no blame."

I nod, hiccupping sobs escaping against her shirt as I cry.

And despite her words, her comfort... I still feel soiled.

DECEMBER 2539

I've been at Mama and Daddy's place for a few weeks now. I told them that I want to move back to my apartment today, and their reactions were mixed. I heard them arguing about it last night in their room.

"I don't want her to go back," Mama said. "We knew it was a bad idea for her to live by herself, and now we've seen the proof!"

She talked like that for a long time, but eventually I heard Daddy's voice: "Would you deny her what you've so fiercely defended your whole life—the right to screw up or make the most of her life? She will never be able to heal until she goes back there. She can't hide from it."

Mama choked back a sob, and Daddy spoke again, "It's all right, Claire. She's stronger than this."

Kale remained silent when I told him of my decision, saying only that I should do what made me happy. I thanked him, but I don't actually know if this will make me happy. I've never been so afraid in my whole life. My stomach's doing back-flips just thinking about going back to live by myself.

He comes in and sits next to me on the couch.

"Hi Dani," he says. "So are you leaving today?"

"Yeah, I think so," I tell him quietly.

He takes my hand idly, playing with it, comparing it to his own larger hands. I feel a pang when I remember that I'm leaving him as well as my parents. But Daddy's right. I can't hide here forever.

"Kale?" I say timidly. "I'm sorry." He sighs and his hands grow still.

"Dani, if you tell me you're sorry one more time, I'm going to tear my hair out." His words pull my gaze from my lap to his face. "You do not have anything to apologize for. Not to me."

I bite my lip and look back down, trying not to cry. It doesn't do any good. He notices, of course, and puts an arm around me. I lean into him and wipe the tears that managed to escape.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asks softly. "If this is about moving, no one is pressuring you either way. You can stay here with your parents for as long as you want."

I sniffle. "No, I know. But…" my voice trails off and almost falls away entirely, "I'm scared. I know I have to go back to normal. But the thought of my apartment and being alone again…I don't want to."

"Aw, Dani, you think we don't see that?" He doesn't continue right away, but just lets me take comfort in his body next to mine.

"Dani…there's something I wanted to tell you. I don't really know if it's a good time anymore, but…your dad thinks I'm ready to go out on my own. I've learned enough control to not be so dangerous anymore. So even though I don't have nearly all the powers your dad has, I'm no longer in training."

I sit quietly and absorb this for a moment while he goes on, "I don't want you to think I'm forcing anything on you. This is entirely up to you, and everyone respects that. But if you agree…your parents think I should stay with you for a while, just until you feel comfortable again." I look up at him with wide eyes.

"It wouldn't be anything sexual or, um…damn. I just mean I want you to feel safe. I'd sleep on the couch or whatever," he says quickly. "I'm not trying to push you into…um….God…" he breaks off, embarrassed.

"It's okay, Kale," I laugh. He looks so funny, all flushed and unable to look at me. "I get your meaning." He sighs in relief. My laughter dies down as I process what he's offering me.

"Do you really mean it?" He nods.

"You're my best friend, Dani. Of course I mean it."

"Then…then yes. I'd like you to come live with me. Until you, y'know. Want to leave." Mild panic seizes me, though, at the idea. I don't want him to leave.

"All right then. We can leave whenever you're ready," he says.  
"My parents are okay with this?" I still can't quite get my head around that. After all, they were kind of strictly against this sort of thing when I was younger.

He grins. "I'm the devil they know. The lesser evil." He winks and goes to grab his stuff. I should've known he was already packed.

I take a minute to smile. The devil they know—yeah, right. I think Mama and Daddy recognize that he's strong and capable, and that he legitimately cares about me. I feel better, just knowing that he's coming with me.

THE NEXT DAY…

If I thought my apartment was tiny before, it was nothing compared to the size once Kale's things were moved in. I never really realized before how many things he had managed to accumulate. Boxes of trinkets and clothes alike were stacked behind the couch until they reached the ceiling. The rest were stuffed under the coffee tables and counters until every available crevice was bursting with cardboard. Even my walls were overtaken, Kale's mirrors covering the previously blank spaces and 'opening up the room', at least that's the reason he gave me. But I've caught him preening in mirrors and admiring his own reflection enough to know better by now, not that I blame him. The both of us are vain creatures. We have reason to be.

Still, there's something new in the mirrors when I look, something disconcerting in my own reflection.

I look away from the glass, avoiding the walls and letting my gaze fall on the new inhabitant of my sofa instead.

"So," I say, folding my hands behind my back and crossing my ankles. I didn't count on it being this awkward once my parents left. Until now, they've always been there, a constant buffer… and now it's just us.

"So," he echoes, leaning forward on the couch and propping his elbows on his knees. I never noticed before how tall he is. Then again, he's never sat on my too low, too short, second hand couch before.

"Home sweet home," I say, forcing a smile.

"Home is where the heart is," he looks up at me through dark lashes, long enough to rest against the tops of his high cheekbones when he closes them.

Something inside of me glows at the words.

"Well, good thing I carry mine around in my chest," I tease, "Instead of in that dusty old jar you use to preserve yours."

He smirks at me. "Well, I've recently hired a cleaning lady to do the dusting. Moved into her apartment so she could take extra good care of me, actually."

I roll my eyes and look over to the mantle place. Lo and behold, a mirror.

I study my reflection for a few seconds and frown. What's so different? The eyes are the same. Maybe a little more haunted. The hair is just as blonde as ever. Not a blemish on the skin… maybe my cheeks are a little too full. I've probably put on weight lately. I need to work on that. I can't get fat. Kale would never look twice at me then…

"Don't be dumb, Dani."

I look up, sharply, meeting Kales dark blue gaze.

"First of all, I'm pretty sure we've stopped aging, which means our bodies have become more or less unchanging. The time for weight gain or loss is past. Now, the regenerative abilities keep us in a sort of stasis. And second… why do you think that would matter to me in the least? It's not your body that I care about," he looks me up and down, a small little half grin on his lips, "though I'll admit to you that it's certainly a pleasure to look at."

I become immediately self conscious. I can't help it. It's a stupid reaction, considering that at one point it was a near daily occurrence. And the way I feel about him; no incident with some emotionally manipulative rapist can change that. But that expression of interest here in my apartment, no training between us…

Wait. Did he just read my mind?

"Well, that's a new trick," I say, crossing my arms and arching a brow.

He grins sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to listen in. It's just a little hard to control sometimes. And it's hard sometimes to tell between spoken word and thought."

This could be problematic.

"So… if you can read my mind now…" I let the rest of it trail off, unsaid. Of course that's no deterrent for him anymore.

"Every single dirty thought," He's blushing and grinning profusely. It makes me want to punch and kiss him simultaneously.

"Right," I look away and study the boxes behind him, trying very hard to keep my thoughts pure.

He laughs. "It's okay, I've got it under control now."

I nod stiffly. Silence follows.

Shit. I didn't think being alone again would be this hard. We used to spend every day together! Of course, back then we played house and pretended to be married… I cut off that line of thought before I can realize not much has changed, and turn back to Kale.

"So. I'll do the cooking if you do the cleaning," I say, trying to lighten the mood.

He arches a lovely brow and I try to imagine him moving a mop across the tile in the kitchen. The thought is so absurd that I have to laugh.

"I can do that," he says, pantomiming window washing before winking and leaning back in the couch. His legs sprawl forward, brushing the hem of my dress and the bare skin of my shin to make me shiver.

"Good," I look towards the clock on the wall. "Well, it's late, and I have work in the morning."

He nods, rising and giving me a serious, heart wrenching look I can't place. "You should go to bed."

"I should…" my voice trails off.

Without thinking, I take a couple of hesitant steps forward, dropping a chaste kiss on his cheek.

"Thanks for coming with me," I whisper.

His arms wrap easily around me and I let myself sink into his embrace. I'm tall for a girl, but he's taller, and he sets his chin on the top of my head easily.

"My pleasure," he assures me giving me one last squeeze before he pulls away and starts putting sheets on the couch.

I watch him for a few seconds, wishing I had the courage it would take to kiss him like he once kissed me… and then I turn, disappearing into my bedroom and dreaming beautiful dreams about a lovely, dark haired boy with deep blue eyes.

JANUARY 2540

This is one of those weeks that I wish I had super-strength or something like that. Healing doesn't do a whole lot for my temper.

Kale has insisted that if he's going to be sharing my apartment, then he's going to help pay for rent and utilities. But instead of being a man and getting his own job, he decided to follow me to work. Ketra was thrilled to see him, because it just so happened that she had an open position.

Now, thanks to some sweet-talking on his part, she's assigned him to be my partner. As if I can't handle it on my own, and need adult supervision. It's just a bit insulting.

Today we were looking for Trent Yorick. A client came in wailing about her electronic safe that holds all her valuables, and somehow she managed to lose the combination. It's completely ludicrous, but Trent can talk to machines or something like that, so we brought him in. It's a dumb assignment, and on top of that Trent didn't want the job. So we went back empty-handed, something that would normally put Ketra in a foul mood. But Kale can do no wrong with her.

"Oh honey, don't you worry about it. I can send Sorrel out for one of the hearers," she assures him. It really isn't that big a deal, I guess, but if it had just been me, she would have been pissed. I fume and try to act like I couldn't care less that she's inching closer and closer to Kale as she speaks.

"Well Ketra, I think we're done for the day," he tells her off-handedly. That's the nice part about being her two favorite finders—we can pretty much pick our hours, as long as we're in her good graces and the agency isn't too slammed with business.

He strides out the door, me in his wake.

"What the hell, Kale? _We're_ done for the day? You don't decide my work-day for me," I tell him indignantly. He looks at me with bemusement.

"We've been there for most of the day. We deserve a break. I thought you'd welcome it—you seem kind of tense today." I take a moment to appreciate his intentions before remembering my frustration.

"This job is my chance to try something new and gain some independence, and if that means dealing with stress, then fine. You can't just…God!" I break off, growling and remembering Ketra's sugary smile. _Don't get distracted, Dani. Focus on the main issue_.

"What's the real deal, Dani? You've been in a bad mood all week, and this is not why you're taking it out on me right now," he says. He folds his arms and waits for my answer. Keep waiting, kiddo.

"Why don't you just read my mind?" I challenge him. "You don't ever need to bother asking again."

He grins snidely, dropping his arms and stepping closer. "You don't want that. I could know everything I ever wanted to know, if I took the time." He tilts his head to one side, as though studying me. "And anyway, you don't want me to know the real reason you're angry." I feel so mad I could punch him.

"Hit me, if you think it'll make you feel better."

I gape.

"I thought you weren't listening!"

He laughs, "I'm not. But you're pretty transparent, Dani. It isn't hard to read your expressions."

I grind my teeth and turn on my heel. He calls from behind me, "Where are you going?"

"Back to work," I reply huffily.

I spend the rest of the day on stupid errands, finding people near the center. Kale's infuriating smile stays in my head, as well as the crestfallen look that greeted me when I returned to Ketra without him. Beautiful, smug, charismatic bastard.

I come back to the apartment to find Kale grooming himself, watching his every move in the mirror. What a narcissist.

"What did you do all day?" I ask grumpily. I head to the fridge to see what we're having for dinner. Of course he didn't think of cooking tonight, even though he's been home for most of the afternoon.

"I was tracking you," he says without tearing his eyes away from himself. "Keeping an eye on you."

"That's creepy."

He finally turns to look at me and smile winningly. "No it isn't. You think it's sweet."

I bite my tongue to keep from retorting and start making sandwiches. I'm too short-tempered to do anything else right now.

"You're pissing me off, Kale."

He drapes himself over the couch, satisfied with his reflection. I don't know how he does it, but he manages to collapse and make every limb completely, bonelessly limp.

"I can tell," he says, watching me lazily. "And I've gotta say, Dani, jealousy does not become you. I mean," he grins, "it's flattering, sure. But you should ignore Ketra. She's already decided to let me make the first move, and that just won't happen."

I thump the plates down on the table with a little more force than I meant to. "So you've been listening to people out there? At work? That seems pretty rude."

He joins me at the table. "Empathy for the weak doesn't mean that I have respect for any of them," he says through a mouthful of food. I frown.

"Swallow your food. And don't call them that. It bothers me."

He laughs again. He's doing a lot of it today.

"They are what they are. And if you don't like my worldview, go talk to your dad."

"So is that what I am, too? I'm just jealous and silly and weak?" I'm working up to a full argument, but he cuts me off before I can get up to full steam.

"No, stupid. You can be an idiot sometimes, but you are not, and have never been, weak," he says affectionately.

"Kale, you can be obnoxious as hell, you know that?" I say to distract from the seriousness of the moment. He grins again.

"Yeah, I know. But you like it."

FEBRUARY 2540

The sexual tension in my little apartment is thick enough to cut with a knife. I can hardly breathe without bumping in to Kale. It's gotten so bad that his crap has started trickling into my bedroom, my sanctuary. I don't think anyone else could possibly understand how difficult it is to sleep well with the personal effects of the man you've been in love with since you were a child, draped across the foot of your bed.

It's a freaking wonder we haven't done anything yet. I mean, it's not like we haven't thought about it, I certainly have, but it just hasn't been… right. Part of me thinks it's too much like it used to be to work, that we're too much like siblings to be lovers. But my libido certainly doesn't agree. I can sit and watch him making dinner and want his lips on mine, and it's not in the least disturbing.

I don't know what's holding him back. Maybe it's about what happened with Arric. It still bothers me, that the creep was able to get to me so easily, make me turn against my best friend in the world. Maybe it bothers Kale too.

Whatever it is, the little narcissist hasn't made a move since he moved in two months ago. It's starting to wear on me, especially since neither of us can keep the longing looks and lustful gazes out of it when we're alone in the apartment. It makes me almost grateful for the weekly dinners at my parent's house and the long work hours spent in often public places.

And times like these, when he's out shopping for groceries and I'm left to my own devices.

I pick my way across the living room and towards the kitchen, stopping along the way to dig through the boxes by the stove labeled "spices/personal." Kale has the weirdest method of packing I've ever seen in my entire life. It's like he chose objects to stick in boxes at random. Going through one the first week he moved in, I found three pieces of chalk, dinner plates, packing peanuts, a feather duster, a pack of gum, and a half used bottle of lemongrass lotion. This box is no different.

Three half burned candles, bottles of ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, basil, etc… One plastic glove probably used for cleaning once upon a time, a box with old looking jewelry, and an open box of condoms.

I grab the ginger and turn back to the stove before I get it.

An open box of condoms?

My eyes narrow.

I'm on my knees by the box before I know it, dumping them out and spreading them along the kitchen tile to count. There are seven. How many are there supposed to be? The box says ten.

I growl, stuffing them back into the box and storming out of the kitchen to the living room. Kale's couch-bed is unmade and rumpled. Of course. He couldn't make a bed if his life depended on it. I toss the box into the sheets and stomp into my room, slamming the door behind me.

Stupid, scummy, impatient male. I can't believe this. We've had an understanding for _years _that we were waiting for each other. I've spent more lonely nights than I can count, imagining him and doing things I probably shouldn't to keep myself satisfied, and I know for a fact that he has too. You can't live in the same house for years without walking in on private time at least once. I had thought that being here, alone together…

Well of course it wasn't going to happen right away. For all the arrogance and sex appeal, Kale's disgustingly noble when it comes to me, but I had thought that it was a certainty. Inevitable.

I guess he hadn't been quite so idealistic.

Stupid freaking chauvinistic pig!

I cross the room to my vanity, sinking into the seat there and staring into the mirror. Blonde hair and blue eyes stare back at me. I'm pretty. I know I am. But I wonder for a few seconds what this other girl, or girls, looked like. Were they blonde like me, blue eyed at tall? Or were they totally different? Maybe there's a long line of brunettes and black skinned beauties who had gotten to touch Kale, strung out behind me like some sort of belt with thousands of little notches.

"What were these doing on the couch? Are you trying to tell me something?"

I turn at the sound of his voice from the doorway. The stupid box is in his left hand and his grin makes me want to punch that perfect jaw.

"Fuck off," I say calmly, turning my back to him and crossing to my bed where I lay myself out, face down.

His weight beside me on the bed makes the mattress dip down and my body slide towards his. I clench the comforter in my hands to keep from moving. "Dani, what's wrong?"

I choose not to respond. It's a tactic that's worked for me in the past. When you ignore the offending party, you feel better, and make them feel guilty. It's a win-win situation.

"Dani, talk to me."

No dice. I breathe into my pillow and try not to cry. How could he? How could he callously do other women and then move in here like nothing happened? How could he not _tell_ me? I had thought that things would evolve and we'd… well I'd thought our games of house would one day become a reality. I'd be the pampered wife and he'd be the doting husband.

Whoever created that game was a sadist.

"You think I've been having sex?" He sounds bewildered, almost offended. That's what he gets for reading my mind.

I sit up, pushing myself into a sitting position and facing him. I'm glowering. He's looking at me in disbelief. I'm itching to slap him.

"Well, you certainly didn't use the missing condoms on me."

He arches a perfect brow, rising fluidly and turning his back on me. The bastard.

"Come back here," I shout, leaping off the bed and going after him. "What happened to 'I'll wait for you Dani," was it just a nice idea?" I round the corner into the living room and he's leaning over the couch, ripping off sheets and digging through the cushions.

"Come on, Kale! Look at me!" But he's too busy hiding his face and destroying his bed. "How were they? Did they fuck like real pro's, or do you like them fresh?" I hiss bitterly.

He whirls around to face me. I can see how irate he is. It serves him right. I want him as angry as I am.

"Here," he spits out, tossing three little packets at me. I stand there, stunned as they hit my chest and fall down to the carpet. "I had them under the cushions, just in case."

I stare down at the missing condoms at my feet.

"If you haven't figured out by now that you're the only girl I've ever wanted to 'fuck' as you so eloquently put it, then you're an idiot."

With that, he turns his back on me and disappears out the front door of our crowded apartment.

I stand in the middle of the room, still looking down at the condoms, and all I can think is, _he wants me._

MARCH 2540

It's been about a month since I confronted Kale about the condoms, and it's probably been one of the worst months of my life. He didn't speak to me at all for like a week. Now he'll talk to me, but only to answer questions or ask for something in particular. I felt really bad for a couple of weeks, but now I'm getting pissed again. Yeah, I falsely accused him of sleeping around; I could see how that might upset him. But come on. A month of the cold shoulder? Get over it.

"Kale, when are you going to stop being mad at me?" I ask him offhand over breakfast.

He looks up from his cereal and says coldly, "I don't know what you mean." Oh brother. This is ridiculous.

"Don't be thick, Kale. We both know you're pissed at me about the condom thing, and I'm getting tired of waiting for you to man up and move on."

He drops his spoon and looks at me, jaw tense. I guess I could've come up with a more tactful way to say that, but I'm sick of tiptoeing around his tetchy mood. Instead of retorting, though, he takes his bowl to the sink and starts washing it out. My eyebrows go up. I can't believe he didn't say anything.

I grit my teeth and try again.

"Seriously, it's getting pretty stupid. You're making life together pretty damn awful, and I'm getting sick of it."

He walks past me, and I'm about to lose it. I grab his shoulder to turn him towards me, and my hand moves to slap his face. But he's quicker than I am. He grabs my wrist and spins me, twisting my arm behind my back.

"Stop," he says, bending momentarily to reach my ear. "You wanted this conversation, fine. But don't hit me just to get my attention." He steers me to the armchair in the living room, where he lets go and pushes me to the sitting position.

He towers over me, glaring. "Now what do you want?"

I set my jaw and fold my arms. "I want you to stop acting like a jerk and let things go back to normal."

"Are you kidding me? Do you even remember the original fight?" he explodes. "I come home to have you scream at me about sleeping with other girls when it never even happened! You went through my private stuff, found a box of condoms and flew off the handle."

"Well, excuse me for seeing your open box of contraceptives and drawing a reasonable conclusion!" I yell back.

"Reasonable? I've never felt anything for anyone else, and you have to know that. How could you not trust me?"

"Oh, so I'm just supposed to see the condoms and assume that everything's just peachy, huh? Is that what you would have done?"

"Yes," he says, surprising me. "Yes. Or at most, I would have asked you. I wouldn't have assumed the worst." I'm sort of taken aback by that.

But he goes on. "Dani, I've liked you since I was ten and you were seven. You know that. You watched me struggle with it when I first started getting new powers. So why do you keep doubting it? I don't know if it's because of that bastard"—his fists clench at the thought of Arric—"or if that's just how you are, but I can't tell you how frustrating it is."

Now I feel kind of bad. I didn't mean to imply that I don't trust him—if anything, Kale's one of three people in the world who make me feel safe.

"But fine. If I have to, I'll tell you once a day that you matter to me," he says. "Just…God!" He puts his hands on the arms of my chair. I press back into my seat, trying to put some more distance between the two of us.

"Do you have any idea how difficult you are?" he demands. "You are pushy, and spoiled, and self-centered. You act all coy, then drive me freaking nuts with every dirty thought in your head, and it's almost impossible to ignore you when your mind is practically screaming at me. You're goddamned beautiful and half the time you don't even notice that you're teasing me. You are proud and stubborn as hell." He breathes hard before continuing. "I've been putting up with your bullshit for most of my life, and I'll keep doing it, because I'm crazy and I care about you. But I just want you to know how impossible you are."

I stare, slightly shaken. I can't decide if I'm flattered or insulted or both.

"I'm…sorry?" I offer hesitantly. He's still in my face, lips parted and close to mine. I wonder briefly if he will kiss me, before he stands upright and chuckles drily.

"No ma'am. It seems I've got to earn that pleasure. And a little waiting won't hurt you either," he winks as he leaves the room.

_LATE MARCH 2540_

His hands rove down my body. I'm panting hard and arching beneath his slow, luscious movements. I feel lips on my skin, tracing outlines and in-lines. A wet tongue darts out to sizzle along flesh… and then I'm coming, spiraling in the whirlpool of sensation and moaning…

His hands anchor me down, tight around my shoulders, keeping me pinned to the bed and reminding me of why I love him…

"Dani."

"Kale. God, Kale." I'm panting with each breath.

"Wake up, damn it."

The words are jarring and my eyes snap open suddenly. I'm so aroused it's almost painful. I can feel the moisture pooling between my thighs and the aftershocks of my orgasm coursing throughout my body.

I'm so confused. "Kale?"

"How do you expect me to get any sleep when you're having dreams like that?"

I grow instantly defensive and extend my arms, pushing him away and sitting up. My muscles are still deliciously relaxed and my breathing erratic. I can't help the subtle glow rolling through my body, and I don't want to. Still, Kale's being a jack ass.

"It's not like I can control my dreams," I grumble. My sheets have dropped down to my waist and my nipples are hard through the thin fabric of my negligee.

"You can at least make an effort," he hisses, averting his gaze and clenching his jaw. "You're little fantasies before bedtime were distracting as hell.

"Well, I have to take what I can get," I hiss, tossing my hair out of my face and glaring petulantly at him, "You've made it perfectly clear you're unwilling to provide the assistance I need, so until you change your mind my right hand and I are going to be becoming very friendly."

He glares back at me, shaking his head and growling under his breath as he storms from the room. I let myself drop back into the bed fully, head resting on my slightly damp pillow as I inhale and exhale.

I'm still quaking with the aftermath. It's the first time I've orgasmed like that in my sleep since I was sixteen… I hadn't realized they had been quite so forceful. But who could blame me for their return? With Kale on this whole sex-fast thing, it's basically all I have. I've 'given myself a hand' more times these past few weeks than I'd care to think about and fantasized about him more often than I imagine any normal girl would. I'm surprised it took him so long to say something, actually, because I've seen him get that look in his eye more than once when he catches me day dreaming...

I shiver once more before sitting up and swinging my legs from the bed. Its morning anyway, or at least the sun is up. Besides, all staying in bed would achieve would be pissing kale off further, especially since I couldn't seem to be in it without thinking about him touching me.

A muffled groan from the other room makes me smile as my feet touch the floor. Serves him right for listening in.

The rest of the morning flies by relatively quickly. It's Kale and I's day off, dinner day at my parents. Somehow, I'm just not feeling it, especially since Kale's been lingering in his couch bed all morning, completely ignoring me and pretending to sleep. It's a tad disconcerting and just a little demeaning.

Around noon, I tire of it.

"Kale, get up," I demand, kicking the side of the couch and grabbing his blanket to tug. It's rolled beneath him, so it doesn't even budge.

He growls from beneath the comforter, turning to face the back of the couch and taking the blanket with him.

That's it. Hands on hips, I stalk into the kitchen, grabbing a pitcher and filling it to the brim with water before making my way furiously into the living room. "Get up," I order, giving him one last chance to leave the couch without consequence. The demand doesn't even phase him. If anything, he nestles deeper into bed.

I hiss, and before I know it I'm emptying the entire pitcher of water onto him. It splashes into his open ear, plasters black hair to his head, and sends him bolting off of the couch, spluttering and scowling and absolutely soaked and furious. For a moment I wonder if I should regret it, but the moment passes when he stalks towards me, wet and wild eyed and absolutely furious.

My hackles rise instantly as I back towards the kitchen, bumping up against a pile of boxes and stumbling to a halt.

"What. The fuck," he hisses, reaching me and pressing his drenched chest to mine, staring down the perfect straight nose and me and breathing hard. I'm not sure why, but it's not fury that affects me as he breathes in my face. It's last night's dream.

My knees go slightly weak as I wet my lips and Kale glares down at me, hands wrapping around my arms and pulling me up to my tiptoes forcefully.

"I told you to get up," I murmur, trying to stay focused as his eyes narrow.

"Let me make myself unerringly clear," he hisses. His eyes are practically glowing with anger. "You will not ever disrespect me like that again. I am not a child and I will not tolerate it." Eyes flashing, he growls and whirls around, letting me go and pacing to his bed where he rips the soaked sheets up and tosses them into a damp heap by the door.

I cross my arms defiantly. "Maybe you should just get up when I ask." I suggest petulantly.

"I live here too, Dani. I pay rent. I even sleep on the goddamned couch instead of a decent bed—"

"That's your choice," I remind him.

"The least you can do is let me sleep in on a fucking Saturday morning."

I arch a brow and scoff.

"You've never been worried about sleeping in before," I remind him. "Or have I been wrong in assuming you and Daddy meet up to hunt every Saturday before dinner?"

He's still pissed. That's the thing about Kale. Once he's mad, he's mad for hours.

"Yeah," he says, scowling, "But we're not going to dinner at your parents house tonight," he says, voice saccharine and mocking, "We're going out."

My jaw drops slightly open before I can school my features. We're… going out? My eyes narrow.

"Wouldn't that have been nice to know before?" I say sweetly before turning back into the kitchen and setting the empty pitcher down on the counter. I glance briefly at the pile of dirty dishes in the sink and try to think back to the last time someone cleaned them. I have a little trouble remembering, and so I push it out of my head completely.

"We're leaving at six." Kale calls from the living room, and then the front door slams and locks and I'm left with some peace and quiet and guilt.

Six o'clock indeed. God, I need something to wear.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I did remind you all of the M rating, didn't I? Lemons definitly ahead. And thank you, thank you thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your support. Please comment with your responses and be on the look out for volume 4. **

**-- Mel and Chuck**

_Later…_

I've spent the last six hours agonizing over how I'm going to look tonight. Should I go for the sultry seductress or the winsome sweetheart? How should I wear my hair? Oh, and it's five-thirty and Kale still hasn't come home.

Damn him. What kind of man tells you he's taking you out only hours before the event? Normally I don't spend a large amount of time worrying about clothing and hair and makeup, but this is a date. My very first with Kale.

I growl in frustration and stalk back to the closet to grab a dress at random. It's bright green, with cap sleeves and a hem that falls just below my knees. Shrugging, I slip into it and evaluate myself in the mirror. It's not bad. It's flowy but clings in the right places.

I do my makeup and hair as quickly as possible. The clock says I've made it with five minutes to spare, and I pull on my shoes to answer the knock at the door. Kale's standing on my doorstep with a flower in his hand, wearing nice clothes and looking absolutely gorgeous.

"You look lovely," he tells me as he offers his gift. I tuck it into my hair and take his arm as he leads me out the door.

"Thanks. You look very nice too." I feel so awkward. I've known this man my whole life, and now one little date makes me feel uncomfortable standing near him.

He breaks the tension, though, when he scoffs, "You don't need to remind me. I always look great." With those words, a warm and happy feeling floods me. I can do this. I can go out with Kale and be myself. He's still the conceited ten-year-old inside. I snicker and bump him with my hip, causing him to take an extra step to keep his balance.

We stop on the street and he turns to me. "I don't much feel like walking."

He steps closer to me and lifts me easily. We fly to the far side of the city, a place I've rarely been. The restaurant is small and comfortable; I feel like I could fall in love with it.

"So…why?" I ask him as we sit down. Don't get me wrong—I like being taken out and treated nicely—but it's a little bit weird coming from him.

"Why not?" he counters. "I'm taking you to dinner and we're having fun."

"No, I know. But we've known each other forever, and we've been living in the same house for a lot of that time. It seems like we could skip the traditional courting scene."

Kale smirks as he replies, "While we both know you'd like to leave out the preliminaries and go straight to the big finish, I prefer finesse and subtlety." He leans back, pleased with himself. I try to ignore the fact that I'm blushing. This morning's dream was a loud reminder of how much I'd love to move him past his chivalrous celibacy.

"Finesse," I repeat, eyebrows rising.

"Yep," he says smugly. "I'm rising above my baser instincts."

I don't think my eyebrows can climb any higher. "You can't fool me, Kale. We both know my fantasies drive you to…" I pause to choose my words, knowing exactly what I drive him to, "distraction. You won't be able to keep this up for long."

"Won't I? I've kept it up until now, with considerable temptation." He leans in conspiratorially, his eyes glimmering with amusement and a challenge. "And Dani? I can last just as long as you can."

I purse my lips. I think he's all talk.He'sgoing to make a move tonight, and I'm just going to hurry things along. I stare at him and let my mind drift to memories of running together, showering…other activities. Things that might weaken his defense. He never blinks, but says only, "If you won't stop that, I'll end our little date and take you home." I open my mouth to tell him that's exactly what I want, but he continues, "I wouldn't stick around for the night, Dani. I'll go elsewhere."

I sit back in my chair and pout, but in minutes he's teasing me and we're laughing about stuff we did when we were younger. The rest of our dinner passes quickly, and before I know it he's taking my hand as we leave the restaurant. I tilt my head to the side to let it rest against his shoulder.

"Tired?" he asks.

I shake my head and he smiles. "Of course you're not."

He pulls me into him and lifts off without another word. _Where are we going?_

"Did you have any place in mind?" he asks above the wind. We float higher and higher, before he brings us to a stop hundreds of feet in the air. He turns me in his arms so I can look out with him.

We can see the ocean from here, and the moonlight makes it almost glow. We stay this way for a long time, watching the waves flow back and forth in silence. Kale's solid warmth against me is reassuring and comfortable. This is perfect.

"Time to go home," he finally murmurs. I nod and turn back to him so he can carry me back.

We touch down on our doorstep and he sets me down before opening the door for me. I'm sleepy now, and I stumble over the threshold into the living room.

He stops me before I can shuffle to my bedroom.

"Thank you for coming with me tonight," he says softly, his hand in mine. He tilts my head up and brushes my lips with a gentle kiss. Even chaste, it is sweet, and I stretch to meet him as he withdraws.

"Not yet, Dani," Kale promises me. _Not yet_.

APRIL 2540

"Let's do it." We're sitting across the table from one another reading, his dark hair had grown long lately and flops down over his left eye. He brushes it aside to look at me clearly.

"Let's do what?" he asks.

"_It_," I stress the single syllable, glancing longingly towards the bedroom.

He arches an eyebrow and grins, closing his book carefully and folding his hands over the leather bound volume. "You've been so patient this month, Dani," he admonishes, tapping long fingers on the wooden table top.

I stare guiltily down at my hands, still holding the old, practically disintegrating hard back book of my mothers. "I know," I mutter. And I have. My demure patience has stunned even me. Kale and I have been on several dates since the first one, each ending with the same damnably chaste kiss and me going to bed aroused and lonely. And now I'm reading this damned book, something mama calls a "romance novel," and the things its describing are making me unbearably heated and turning my thoughts to decidedly unchaste things.

I look back up at Kale. His book is still closed. And he's staring thoughtfully at me. My pulse jumps.

And now he's leaning across the table, those hands sweeping the novel out of my grasp and opening it to a random page before I even have time to react. By the time I'm sputtering protests, he's already reading aloud.

"Randall grasped Lillian's slim hips with iron hands, drawing her to his lips in one smooth motion as she quivered in anticipation. His tongue was like fire across her womanly folds, tracing patterns and sending her into a spiraling ecstasy as he laved her to heights she hadn't known-"

"Stop that!" I hiss, tearing the book out of his hands and throwing it across the room. It hits the far wall with a loud thump and falls to the ground, its cover hanging half off after the impact. Mama's gonna be pissed.

He's laughing now, thoroughly amused by my reaction. "What," he teases, "You can handle the image in your own head but not on paper?" I push back from the table, standing and walking determinedly towards the bedroom. I'm going to slam that door in his face and make him beg to come in.

He grabs my wrist as I pass by and I yank viciously. His grip only grows firmer as I struggle until finally I feel a stinging in my wrist and have to stop. I think I might have sprained something, but before I can thoroughly examine it, muscles shift and mend and I feel fine.

"How do you expect me to do something like that to you if talking about it makes you blush?" he asks, voice low and husky. My breath catches and heat flashes through me as I see a vivid image of him, head bowed between my thighs like the man in the novel…

"Let go of me," I demand. My voice cracks and I try not to lunge out at him. I wonder if he realizes how amazing he looks in that moment, eyes intense, lips slightly parted, hair disheveled over his forehead.

"No," he says simply, standing and stepping into me, invading my space and forcing me to step backwards, his hand still firmly around my wrist. We walk like that, him advancing and me shrinking back until we're through the bedroom door. He's glancing over my shoulder at the unmade bed with rumpled sheets and the comforter thrown on the floor. "So you want me in your bed, but you don't even bother to make it in the morning?" he teases, finally releasing my wrist, but only to wrap those hands around my waist and draw me towards him.

I can hardly breathe. I can't believe this is happening now. I hadn't been seriously expecting agreement when I asked him to have sex… but now he has me in the bedroom, my breasts pressing to his chest and his lips moving along the shell of my right ear.

I shiver. "Kale, are you sure we should-"

"Shut up, Dani," he murmurs into my ear. His hands are roving now, from my waist to the small of my back and up to my shoulders. My dress is shifting beneath his touch as I change my weight from foot to foot and bite my lip. He's so close, so damned close.

I moan as his lips settle just behind my ear and his tongue darts out furtively to touch skin. His hands are everywhere now, caressing my breasts and my ass and drawing up the skirt of my sun dress to gain more exclusive access…

I don't know what to do as sensation becomes everything and the back of my knees hit the mattress. And so I let my hands rove, looking for the flap of his jeans before he pulls his lips away from me and mutters a guttural "no, be still," before continuing. I groan, eyes fluttering shut as his hands stroke my thighs and he lays me back onto the bed.

"So tell me what else happened in this book you were reading," he murmurs into my ear. I shiver and my nipples turn to hard, aching points beneath his fingers.

"Umm…" I'm not sure how to respond or even if I should, what he's doing is so wonderful.

"Answer me, Danielle." I quake at my name on his lips. Something usually said with fatherly affection turns instantly into one of the sexiest things I've ever heard on Kale's voice.

"Uh," I clear my throat as he growls, long fingers stroking beneath my dress in patterns on my thighs. I try to remember what I read, but I can't think when he's doing that. Suddenly, his hands and his delicious weight disappear and I am left empty on the bed.

"Play along, Dani," he says softly, kneeling on the edge of the bed, blue eyes smoldering.

I have to bite my lip to keep from moaning again. "He-he-"my voice is shaking like a leaf, "he touched her with his hands…" Kale settles back over me and I nearly shout with the joy of it before I bring myself back under control.

"Did he, now?"

"God, yes. And he…" Kale's hands brush over the center of my panties and I quiver. "Oh God, he sucked on her breasts." Kale growls deep in his chest as one of those long, wonderful fingers dips beneath my panties to stroke my clit and his mouth closes over a nipple through the fabric of my dress, dampening it and nipping gently.

My back arches at the unbelievable sensation of what he's doing to me. What I've done to myself in the past is nothing, _nothing _compared to this. I've never imagined that having him touch me this way would add so much… anticipation, heat, wonder, and God, the sensation. The unpredictable tugs and strokes and nips that are making my back arch and my eyes roll back in my head.

It's a flood of sensation and I'm drowning in it as he licks and tugs and plays with deft fingers between my thighs. If I didn't know him I'd think he had plenty of practice, but the way his chest is heaving and the soft, exploratory strokes between my thighs give him away. He's just as new at this as I am.

"Do you like this, Danielle?" The demanding edge is in his voice, he's still playing, but the sincerity is there, so naked and vulnerable that I want to take him in my arms and just love him.

"Yes. Fuck. Yes."

And then his fingers flick just the right way over my clit and I am sent into a shuddering, spiraling climax as his tongue circles the saturated fabric of the dress over my nipple.

When I come back to myself, he's beside me, chest heaving as his cheek rests on my shoulder and he smoothes my dress modestly back over my thighs.

"What are you-"

He silences me with a sweet, chaste kiss on the lips before pulling away.

"Thank you," he says softly before rising and making his way to the door.

"Where are you going?" I cry, panicked. What did I do? Why is he leaving after we… before we even…

He stops, whirling around in the doorway to face me. "Dani, no," he looks shocked, "I'm not leaving because of anything you did. God no. You were fantastic! Touching you is like— touching an angel." I blush at the comparison and at just exactly what he was touching. "No," he says again. "It's just that, we have dinner with your parents in about ten minutes…" He lets his voice trail off and I remember, jumping at the thought.

Shit. Shit shit shit. Daddy's going to freak out if we show now and Mama will be pissed if we don't…

Kale grins again. "We have to go." He says firmly.

I shake my head. "I'm… sticky. I have to shower."

"No." He sounds resolute. "I like you just the way you are." He smirks. "What's between your thighs is there for _me…_ and I want it to stay there. Now let's go." I gape as he enters the living room, the very real proof of what he does to me pooling between my thighs and dampening my panties.

I bite my lip and stare after him before rising from the bed to follow him.

_Later…_

God, dinner. I hate it. Kale and I are flying to my parents' house right now. He said the cool air would be good for us. But I find it hard to concentrate when his skin against mine is electrifying. He's holding me as innocently as he possibly can when we're hundreds of feet in the air, and still all I can think is, _Touch me. Slide your hand just a little lower._

"Damn it," he says as we touch down in front of their building, "If you can't get yourself under control, it's going to make the next few hours _really_ uncomfortable."

"Some of us haven't spent years perfecting our self-discipline," I tell him as I straighten my dress and smooth back my hair. I like flying—it's fun and convenient—but I always end up kind of messy coming down.

"A fact I am reminded of every day, thanks to you." Kale reaches out to tuck a wayward curl behind my ear. He smiles and we walk up to our family dinner. I'm working as hard as I can to think only of safe things, like work and chores I need to do around the apartment. I'd rather Daddy didn't find out what happened today just yet.

"You're quiet tonight, Danielle," Daddy says. I look up at him innocently before returning to my food.

"Sorry, I'm tired. It's been a long week," I tell him, faking a sigh. Daddy's eyes narrow just for a millisecond, but he says nothing.

"This is really good, Mrs. Gray," Kale says after a pause. "Dani's a good cook, but she's got nothing on you." He winks at me and I kick him under the table, laughing. What a suck-up. Mama's told him he can call her Claire, but he never does. If she were 'Claire' to him, that would make Daddy 'Gabriel', and Kale would never call him anything but Mr. Gray. He admires and respects Daddy, and to be honest, I think he loves my father better than his own long-absent parents.

Actually…although Kale would never say this, I think he considers himself as much a part of this family as we do. In all the years since he came to live with us, I've only heard him mention his parents once or twice, and he never seemed to miss them. He's always careful to say '_your_ parents' or '_your_ family', but still. He's been a part of us for too long to be called anything other than family. I guess maybe that's why it makes sense that he and I live together so well.

Sometime in the middle of this, my father's head snaps up. I can see a muscle jump in his neck.

"God damn it, Kale," he says, exasperation and some anger in his voice.

"I _didn't_," Kale says hotly. Uh-oh. I'm tensing for the argument I know is coming when my mother speaks up.

"Leave him alone, Gabriel. You let him move in with her, didn't you?" Mama's gaze is frank; it clearly says that she knows, if not the details, then the gist of what's going on.

My father shuts his eyes for a moment. I look nervously between him and my mother and Kale. I know Daddy's punished her for less than this. His eyes open and he stands. Kale watches him calmly. Daddy walks to my chair and kisses my head.

"I'll see you soon, my baby," he whispers. He nods briefly, though not rudely, at Kale before disappearing behind his bedroom door. Looks like dinner's over. Mama starts clearing away some of the plates before we leave.

"Have a good week, kids," she says warmly before kissing us goodbye. She gets that look that means she's no longer in control of her body, and turns to follow Daddy into their room. Eww.

"I was being perfectly good!" I protest after the front door closes behind us. Well, okay, maybe not _perfectly_, but I was pretty damn good in there.

"I know," Kale says with a sigh. "It wasn't you."

Apparently I misspoke earlier when I said his practice had given him perfect self-discipline. My smile grows wider, until he can't possibly ignore it.

"What?" he says, and I can see his cheeks turning red, which makes me grin even wider.

"Now who needs to get themselves under control?" I taunt.

"You have no idea," he growls. We lift off and his hands aren't so gentle anymore. They're grasping, squeezing, making me gasp.

I can't wait to get home.

_Still Later…_

The moment we touch down on the front stoop of the apartment building I find myself pressed bodily to the wall by the call buttons. The cool brick of the building is solid through my dress and against bare shoulders as his hands move steadily from my waist down to the hem of my skirt.

"You have _no _idea what the smell of you was doing to me in there," his voice is low and husky by my ear and his fingers start to inch up from my knees to the slick coated flesh of my thighs. I am very literally quivering as he touches me and the cold night air rushes up to meet tender skin.

"Umm, Kale? Can we go inside?"

He tears his gaze from my breasts to meet my eyes. His pupils are dilated, his mouth slightly parted with shallow pants. Without saying a word he reaches behind me and unlocks the door, pushing it open deftly and walking me backwards into the tiny living room. We pause somewhere by the couch and his lips leave mine as he reaches for something I can't see, and then he's back against me, arms wrapping around my waist and hitching me up to walk backwards on tip toes as he moves us steadily towards the bedroom.

"Dani," his voice is strained as my knees hit the bed once more. All I can do is moan in response. "If you're not ready, you need to tell me now."

Not ready? What kind of an idiot am I in love with? Doesn't he know me at all? Hasn't he been there for the past four years as I've tried using every weapon in my arsenal to seduce him into screwing my brains out? I've been dreaming about this moment for far too long… and now he's wasting time to ask if I'm 'ready'?

"Point taken," he mutters, capturing my lips with his and guiding me down to the bed. I can barely feel the mattress beneath me. The overwhelming heat and the steady pressure from his body is so all encompassing that I can't notice anything else.

Our clothes have quickly become an unnecessary barrier. The button up shirt he's wearing, the one I've thought many times before is sexy and delectable on him, is nothing more than a nuisance.

"Take off your shirt," I demand, hands roving around his slacks and belt to loosen them and set his shirt free. I want to touch skin, want to see the smooth muscles of his upper body ripple as I drop kisses along their ridges….

"Jesus," he moans above me, lips trailing from my jaw down to the low neckline of my dress. "You have no idea what the images in your head look like on top of mine," he tells me, "what they do to me. It's like having a fantasy and then another on top of it, experiencing things from both points of view…"

I rip his shirt off as he finishes speaking and he growls low in his throat. Buttons cascade over bed sheets and the entire, golden expanse of his chest is laid bare before me. I have to touch it, have to kiss it and let my tongue trace along the ridges of well defined muscle.

"Dani," his voice cracks slightly as he says my name and I shimmy down beneath him to kiss lower and follow the trail of hair from his belly button to the top of his pants. His hands in my hair stop my descent and draw me back up to face him. The delicious tugging at my scalp is more scalding than I expected and I feel the sudden urge to sink teeth into flesh. "Let me."

And I do. I try my hardest to stay still beneath him as those lips and that tongue dart down and his hands find the zipper at the back of my dress and draw it down, leaving me bare except for the lacy pink bra and soaked panties I've been wearing all day. Finally, I have to move, have to help him. I don't understand how this can be so different than what I've done before, but it is. Everything is new, every move he makes and every piece of flesh he strokes. I am sensitized from head to toe and now his mouth has closed over one of my nipples, broad tongue stroking through delicate lace and leaving me drenched above and below.

And finally his hands undo the cumbersome under thing and his mouth is on me directly as thumbs lower panties down silken legs.

I don't know when his clothes disappeared, but all I feel between us now is skin. Hot, moist, throbbing skin.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting to do this?" he murmurs right into my ear. His hand is massaging my breast now and the other had found its way back between my thighs. He makes his way down my body until his cheek, his faint five o'clock shadow abrasive and sexy, is resting against my lower abdomen. Still, his hand works between my thighs as he inhales deeply. "You smell so damned hot," he whispers almost reverently before his tongue begins to trace the shallow indentation right below my belly and above my sex.

"Kale, stop teasing me, please," I moan.

He chuckles darkly against skin before crawling back up my body, the hand that was between my thighs driving me wild running up my side, leaving trails of glistening moisture all the way up to my blonde hair.

"Talk to me Danielle, tell me what you're feeling," he demands. My name on his lips again makes me convulse under him and shiver. He waits patiently for me to calm down before he demands I talk once more.

I give in. "Hot. Unbelievably hot. It's like everywhere you're touching is burning, only the fire doesn't hurt… it's so delicious…." I moan as his mouth covers my nipple again.

"Keep talking," he orders around my flesh. The vibrations nearly send me over the edge as his tongue swirls around my swollen peak.

"And I'm tight, so tight. My skin is stretched and my muscles are tense… and I want to explode." I whimper. "Please Kale, make me explode."

And he does, suckling on my breast ardently as two of his fingers delve deep inside of me and arch against a spot I didn't even know existed. I snap back, my head pushing against my pillow and my spine arching up to thrust my breast deeper into his mouth and his fingers deeper into me.

I spin, out of control moaning and crying and sighing as he pulls away and my world sets itself upright again. I reach for him. I want more, have to have more of this delicious release…

He comes to me form the edge of the bed, he's completely naked now but for the condom he grabbed in the living room, and he's _big. _ I try to imagine all of that fitting inside me, and I just can't. His fingers made me feel so full that I can only imagine what his sex will do.

I don't have to imagine for long. He's back over me before I have time to breath and kissing me more passionately than I can ever remember.

"Dani, tell me you're ready. Please, God, tell me you're ready." He's shaking above me, all the certainty in him has fled and he's my Kale, the little boy and the man, the friend and the lover, the reality and the fantasy. He's asking, begging me for permission I gave him years ago, and I can't do anything but grant it.

"Yes. Please," I whisper, wrapping my arms around his neck as one of his hands strokes my face and the other lifts my hips to his.

He kisses me again, takes my mouth in a searing exploration as he plunges into me, his whole solid length pushing deep until there's nowhere left to go and I'm quivering around him. There's a slight twinge at my center, a little throbbing, but it's soon gone and replaced by the hurricane of sensation he's giving me. He won't stop kissing me, can't let me go, and I don't want him to.

As he withdraws I cry out in pleasure, arch my back and scramble to bring him back into me. We continue like that, giving and taking and moaning and sighing as we finally get what we've both wanted for years. This is it, the pleasure, the commitment, the—

"Love." Kale groans and shudders above me, bites his lip and furrows his brow as he begins to come just as I can't take it anymore and begin to pulse and orgasm around him. "I love you, Dani."

And as I come, my whole body releasing with exquisite pleasure, I cry. He loves me. Of course he does. But he loves me.

And the world ends and rebuilds around me in our image as everything goes black.

_The next morning…_

"Mmm," I sigh. Kale's arm tightens around me and he mumbles something unintelligible in my hair. I struggle to turn so I can see him, and my fingers reach up to caress the planes of his perfect face.

"You're beautiful," I whisper, so softly I can barely hear myself. Kale opens his eyes blearily.

"'Morning Dani." I scoot up to kiss him briefly.

"I love you too," I tell him. He smiles and rolls onto his back, taking me with him so that I end up on top of him. Those long fingers wrap around my upper arms and pull me down to kiss him deeply. I mold my body to his, sliding against him in ways that I know will turn him on.

"Hey," he says, holding me fast. "Thought we were going in to work today." My eyebrow goes up at his pragmatism.

"Seriously, Kale? You can think about work while you have a goddess on top of you?" I shift against him. "I do not approve of your priorities."

He chuckles low in his throat; it's almost a purr, and suddenly I am more aroused than I was just a minute ago. He notices, and smirks.

"Well, Dani, I'm open to alternative plans. Tell me," his hands slide down my back to grasp at my bottom, "what do you have in mind?"

My answer comes immediately, "I want to stay in bed all day with you and have ridiculous, mind-blowing sex."

His expression becomes one of amusement. "That's not very specific at all, Dani. Mind-blowing sex is just too broad a topic. You can do better." His hands leave my body and rest behind his head now.

"Umm…I want to…" My voice trails off as I start imagining all the things I'd like to do with him. He can hear me anyway.

"No." He rolls his head from side to side, a lazy but determined negation. "I want to hear you say it. I want to hear your dirty thoughts spoken aloud." His interested gaze is focused on me, my eyes, my lips. I blush under his study and clear my throat.

"I want to…" My face can't possibly get redder than it is right now.

"Dani, I'm not doing anything for you unless you can tell me exactly what it is that you want." He sits up, propping himself and giving me a beseeching look. "Come on," he wheedles. "I'm not asking you to spill your guts. Just tell me the first one that pops into your head."

"Fine. I want to ride you until you scream." That said, I rush on, keep talking. "I want you in every room of this apartment. I want us both to be exhausted; I want to touch you and kiss you until it seems like you're the only thing in the world." I look to the wall and get inspired.

"I want you to take me in front of that full-length mirror right there so we can see how incredible we are, right now."

His blue eyes glitter and his smile widens, becomes a little wicked as he leans forward. "What a great idea."

He kisses me then, insistent hands pulling me closer to him. I pull away, though, push off the bed and dance over to the mirror.

"I wasn't kidding." He grins and springs after me. His hand reaches toward the bedroom door; it opens and a condom flies to his hand. I roll my eyes. _Show-off._

"If you've got it, flaunt it, right Dani?" He looks me up and down appreciatively. "That's been your motto ever since we were old enough for it to matter." He steps closer and his lips are just inches from mine. "You have no idea how crazy you made me when we were teenagers. I couldn't sleep at night, for thinking about you."

I laugh and turn my back on him, standing in front of the mirror to survey myself. Light hair, darker skin, all golden—I'm not bad to look at. Then Kale's reflection joins mine and my breath catches in my throat. He smiles and his hands come around to caress my body, making me slightly dizzy. My hands move to rest against the wall on either side of the mirror. He stands directly behind, slowly pushing into me; he thinks he's being funny, teasing me this way. A frustrated noise tears from my throat and I buck my hips up, back into him.

"Stop screwing around," I hiss at him.

"I thought that was our goal today," he says dryly into my ear.

"I'll kill you."

"Good luck."

With that, he picks up his rhythm, giving me what I asked for. His blessed, talented fingers move between my nipples and my clitoris. _Oh God…_

"Kale, oh God, Kale," I pant as he bites his lower lip. We watch ourselves in the mirror, watch the experience of pushing each other to new limits, until we both cry out. He supports me as all my bones dissolve and my muscles turn to jelly, pulling me close to him and kissing my neck as we sink to the carpet together, trembling.

MAY 2540

Work today was hell. Literally. Kale and I were reminded quite brutally of why Kestra hired us to be finders. One of the people we were offering a job thought we were government officials come to kill or lock them up. The flame thrower had us both engulfed without even a moments hesitation. Of course, Kale made quick work of putting out the flames and dispatching him afterwards, but I could still feel the scorching white flames licking across my skin and melting my eyes shut hours later.

After that little debacle, the two of us had spent another couple hours tracking down a replacement for the one we'd lost. We'd finally found one on the west side of the city, huddled around a metal can with white flames coming out the top. He had luckily been far more compliant and in need of work than the last one. We took him in and he got to live.

Yes. It has been a hellish day, which is why we find ourselves in the middle of an overcrowded club now, moving through the gyrating mass of sweating bodies. We're the hottest couple in the place. All of the men stop and stare as I pass by them, their fingers brush against the hem of my too short dress as if they think I won't notice. I see the women too, eyes drawn to the tall male at my side, too eager tongues tracing dark red lips. I glare from behind sooty eyelashes and minimal makeup. "Don't fuck with me," my eyes scream.

Kale leads me onto the dance floor. We need this after the day we've had, need to forget what the flames felt like on flesh and ignite a fire of a different sort.

The music is loud and thumping, like the pulse of the building or the collective heartbeat of the hundred or so people surrounding us.

Kale's hands find their way to my hips and pull me close, turning me around in the crush of people so that my ass fits snugly against him and his lips can toy with my neck from behind. There are people all around us, everyone moving and sweating and breathing hard… and his fingers are slipping down my hips to the outsides of my thighs, toying with the too high hem off my dress.

"Are you wearing panties?" he breathes into my ear, just loud enough to be heard over the booming bass. My breath hitches and I smile.

"Why wouldn't I?" I ask, grinding back against him artfully. He's erect now and the head of him is pressing into my cleft through stretchy black fabric.

"A myriad of reasons," he says, too calm to be doing this, "maybe you forgot… or maybe you just really want me to fuck you right here on this dance floor."

I gasp. "Don't be obscene," I admonish, not really able to put a lot of dismay into it. Secretly, the thought of him taking me here in front of everyone… it thrills me more than I can say.

He chuckles low behind me, hands still roving across my stomach and breasts and back down again until those artful fingers are pulling up my dress from behind, oh so careful to keep my covered in front, and he's discovering first hand that I didn't bother to put on panties after all.

"What do you think you're doing?" I ask as he continues to sway with me. Other people keep brushing against us as we move, not noticing how wide my pupils have gotten or how shallow we're both beginning to breathe.

"I think you know exactly what I'm doing," he says, hands fumbling between us until his zipper is down and I can feel him, bare skin hot and heavy against mine.

"Kale," I gasp, breath hitching once more as his hands close around my breasts and he pushes me up and then sinks me down again. There's the customary twinge and then every delicious inch of him has disappeared between my thighs.

It's like a magic trick. And everyone has missed it. The dancing continues around us. No one notices that I've stopped moving in time to the music. Or that Kales fingers are deftly pinching my hardened nipples. No one notices that I'm on my tiptoes, trying to stay balanced as he pushes in to me from behind, biting my neck and breathing into my ear.

All the couples around us can hear is the music. All they feel is the warmth and the pure kinetic energy in this mass. All they see is each other. As for me, I see fireworks. Fireworks behind closed lids as he pushes into me so forcefully my toes leave the ground and I am suspended for a moment with the world spinning around me and within me. I'm clenching and moaning and he's trying to keep my dress from riding up in front and simultaneously trying to push himself to orgasm…

And all the while the people dance around us. A couple to our left has noticed and they're staring open mouthed. I can tell that the man is aroused by what he sees, but the look on the woman's face is pure horror. I can't bring myself to care.

I let my eyes skate unfocused across the crush of people as the delicious glow spreads throughout me, followed by that same tightening that always brings me to a shattering peek…

And then I see them, a pair of eyes blazing with anger and disgust, eyes that have always been understanding, kind… parental. Shit.

"Oh God, Dani!" Kale moans behind me as my moment shatters and I'm scrambling and frantic, trying to get away from him. But his hands on my waist keep me settled on top of him as he explodes, coming deep inside of me and triggering another orgasmic wave I can't ward off. I come, shuddering and throwing my head back as her pulls me closer, lips tracing the shell of my ear.

I come back to myself in a haze, and I'm trying to remember what I saw…

"Danielle."

Oh yeah.

"Mr. Gray?" Kale sounds scared to death behind me. He withdraws in a flash and my dress flutters down in back. I can't bring myself to meet Daddy's gaze as Kales zipper goes up and he pulls me to his side and then behind him.

"You can call me Sylar," is all Daddy says before things go black and I find myself wondering why the floor is rushing up to meet me.

**END VOLUME THREE**


	5. AN: Volume Four

**Hey Everyone, this is just an author's note to let you know volume four is now being posted. It is located at the following address, and is from Kale's POV. This volume will also be posted at a rapid pace. Enjoy!**

www**(remove space)** .**(remove space)** fanfiction**(remove space)** .**(remove space)** net **(remove space)** /s/5696612/1/Black_and_White_Make_Gray

Sorry for the wierd spaces. For some reason it deletes the address is its posted in its entirety.

PS: Posted a one shot based on the latest episode. We're also very close to posting our newest long colab. :)

Thanks for the continued support.


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